


Make a Wish

by bettycooperthefirst



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-18
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-05-08 10:58:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 45,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14692776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bettycooperthefirst/pseuds/bettycooperthefirst
Summary: Betty Cooper has been going to Camp Clearwater for as long as she can remember, but with one year left of college, this will be her last year as a counselor. She has plans to make it the best one yet, until a wrench is thrown in her plans: her high school rival, Jughead Jones, has joined the staff this summer. How is Betty supposed to have any fun during her last summer at camp when she sees his annoying smirk everywhere she turns?





	1. Welcome to Camp

Betty Cooper had been going to Camp Clearwater since she was 5 years old. It was the first big overnighter she did and her mother had told her that if she couldn’t handle it, she’d come pick her up and she’d never have to go back. 

Betty was still here, every summer, even 16 years later. She was a junior counselor, then a senior counselor, and now at age 21 she was leading and organizing the writing workshops. This was going to be her last year working at the camp. Next summer, she’d have to apply for journalism jobs back in the city, but for now, she was out here, leading cheers, making lanyards, talking with 11 year olds about the boys and girls that they liked. She had these 2 weeks left at Camp Clearwater and she wasn’t going to waste one more second of them worrying about her future.

“Alright, you’re going to be in the Caterpillar Bunk!” Betty looked down at the small girl who was hanging onto her hand for dear life. She reminded Betty of herself when she was first coming to camp: a messy blonde ponytail, a look of determination, but a little bit of nervous energy sneaking through. 

The little girls name was Daisy and she was 5 years old, a first time camper with a backpack that was comically bigger than she was. 

“My very best friend in the world, Veronica, is going to be your Bunk Leader. You’re in good hands, trust me.”  
Betty loved being with the little ones, and she got her fair share of it during the day, but this year she was bunking with the 5th grade girls, the oldest kids at the camp, and the ones that she’d known since they first arrived at camp what seemed like forever ago. It felt like a fitting way to go out, with the kids who were now moving out of camper age and into potential junior counselor age.

“Betty!” She heard a shout from behind her, and turned to see one of them now. Olivia Johnston, and alongside her, Samantha Carrington. They were attached at the hip from their first day at camp and reminded Betty of her and Veronica. They’d always called them their mini me’s, first as a joke, but now it seemed all too true. 

Olivia was a writer, always seeming to burst with sunshine, living in pinks and yellows, her blonde hair growing longer every year. Samantha, on the other hand, was already business savvy and quick witted, and was never caught without a signature black clothing item and a fantastic hairstyle for her dark tresses. Today, she had a fishtail braid and a full black outfit, complete with black nail polish, while Olivia wore a pale yellow Camp Clearwater signature tee shirt, the same one Betty was wearing. It reminded Betty so much of herself and her own best friend that she could almost cry. 

Both the girls were in her bunk this year along with 4 other girls who had also been going to the camp since Betty first started as a counselor. 

“Hey girls!” She smiled and lifted a hand to wave.

“Hey.” Samantha shot her a cool smile and then looked down at Daisy, who was still holding Bettys hand and biting the nail of her other thumb. 

“Whats your name?” Olivia asked her, and Daisy replied in quiet voice.

“Daisy.”

“I’m Olivia and this is Sam. I like your Paw Patrol backpack. Very cool.” the older girl gave the little one a big smile, and Betty felt her hand relax a little bit. 

“I bet you’re in Caterpillar Bunk aren’t you?” Olivia continued.

Daisy nodded.

“You’ll love Ms. Ronnie.” Sam said. “Her and Ms. Betty give out the best stickers in the whole camp. Stick with them and you’re golden.”

“Okay.” Daisy smiled.

“We’re actually headed in that direction if you want us to walk you.” Olivia offered.

“Sure.” Daisy let go of Betty’s hand and let her nerves fall away. Betty smiled. They were making the little girl feel like she was one of the big kids. Exactly what she needed to feel safe and ready.

“You’re gonna go with Sam and Olivia?” She confirmed with Daisy, who gave her a quick nod. Olivia nodded at Betty and took Daisy’s hand. As they walked away, Betty heard her asking “So Paw Patrol, huh? Who’s your favorite character?”

Camp was only just beginning and she had already had her first proud moment.

* * *

Before things really kicked into high gear, there was a counselor meeting. Most of the staff were returning, and some of Betty’s closest and oldest friends. Obviously, there was Veronica, but then there was Cheryl, Betty’s next closest friend, and her girlfriend Toni. They made up half of the Senior Counselors on the girls side. 

Then there was Archie, who had also been attending the camp since they were 5, and Kevin, who’d joined when they were in second grade and been a fast friend of Betty and Veronica. They’d bonded over their favorite flavor of playdough and the rest had been history. 

This year, they were getting two new counselors among the boys to replace the ones who had left after last summer. Betty didn’t know much about them, as apparently the hiring process had been difficult. They hadn’t gotten many applications- being a male camp counselor apparently just wasn’t as appealing as being a female camp counselor. 

When Betty entered the meeting, she saw Veronica and Kevin sitting in the front row, the only ones of her friends to always be on time for these meetings. She plopped down beside Veronica, who was giving her side in a debate. Veronica loved to debate with people, never in a harsh manner, always giving time to hear the opposition, but ultimately with the goal of proving herself right and the other person deeply wrong. 

“I understand that it’s a classic,” she was saying. “But how can we go through life sticking to what we’ve always known, what’s always been there? We’d never leave our comfort zones and end up missing out on so many things. For example, up until high school, you were on the wrestling team. Then in 9th grade, I seem to remember that you wanted to audition for a little musical called Beauty and the Beast but you were absolutely terrified that you wouldn’t be cast and make a complete fool out of yourself in front of anyone, but you pushed yourself to try something new, and what happened?”

Kevin rolled his eyes. “I played Lumiere.”

“As. A. Freshman. Because instead of sticking to what you’d always known, you tried something new and now you are one year away from having your degree in acting, because that one chance changed the entire trajectory of your life.”

“Touche.” Kevin shrugged.

“What’s the debate?” Betty asked.

“Nacho Cheese versus Cool Ranch Doritos.” Kevin gave Betty a knowing look. Veronica took every debate as a serious matter, no matter how ridiculous, and sometimes her arguments were a stretch, but they always made sense one way or another.

Veronica sighed happily. “Another win for the underdog.”

“You ready for this?” Toni popped up next to Betty, with Cheryl and Archie following behind her.

“Our final year, about to begin.” Cheryl sighed dramatically.

“Oh stop, we have three weeks, lets not start getting sentimental now.” Veronica said as the head of the camp, Ms. Clearwater, an older woman with a cheery disposition and graying hair, appeared in front of them.

“Hello everyone.” She smiled. “For our returning counselors, welcome back to Camp Clearwater! I suppose our first order of business should be to introduce our two new staff members. Stand up boys.”

Betty turned to look, and to her surprise one of the faces was familiar to her. 

“Sweet Pea” she vaguely heard Ms. Clearwater say, but that wasn’t the name of the boy who she was locking eyes with. This boy had been in many of her high school classes, always her greatest competitor for top grades in her class, and quite honestly a thorn in her side since she’d laid eyes on him. She hadn’t seen him in 2 years, but there he was standing in front of her, infiltrating her territory. Betty could feel Veronica’s eyes on her and heard an audible gasp from Cheryl’s direction.

Ms. Clearwater was smiling from ear to ear as she unknowingly said the worst pair of words that Betty Cooper had ever heard.

“Jughead Jones.”


	2. Vanilla

The meeting went on for another 10 minutes, going over basic safety rules and regulations, a reminder that the counselors had the night off on Saturdays and a special camping trip the last weekend of camp. And then Ms. Clearwater gave out finalized assignments. Betty looked over her sheet:

> _8:30 Breakfast_
> 
> _9:00 Crafts with K5-1st Grade_
> 
> _10:30 Swimming with 4th and 5th Grades_
> 
> _12:00 Lunch Supervision_
> 
> _12:30 Lunch Break_
> 
> _1:00 Writing with 4th and 5th Grades_
> 
> _2:00 Intramural Sports with All Ages_
> 
> _4:00 Free Time_
> 
> _6:00 Dinner_
> 
> _8:00 All Camp Campfire_
> 
> _9:00 Curfew_
> 
>  
> 
> _Special Weekly Events:_
> 
> _Sunday Get to Know You: All Day Event_
> 
> _Tuesday Morning Nature Walk: 9:00 AM All Ages_
> 
> _Wednesday Evening Movie on the Hill: 8:00 PM All Ages_
> 
> _Friday Night Capture the Flag: 7:00 Ages 9+_

 

None of this information was new, but Betty was fully aware that she hadn’t been paired with anyone for Crafts or Writing yet, and she suddenly had a bad feeling about who she was going to be with.

Jughead Jones had been in Betty’s class since the 2nd grade. At first, she hadn’t really noticed him; he was quiet and kept to himself most of the time. But then came the fateful day of the 2nd grade science fair. Betty had created a model microsystem of the Rainforest, complete with rain. She had worked on it for months, but when she went to turn the rain on for the judges, it wouldn’t work. She jiggled with the button, hoping it would turn on, but instead of pouring rain over the project, the water spewed out and soaked the judges. Betty was so embarrassed. Then she realized that 10 minutes before judging, she’d seen none other than Jughead Jones standing by her project. In a blind rage, she confronted him.

“Did you mess with my project?”

“What?” The boy said, adjusting his stupid beanie.

“You’re the only one who was standing by it and it was all set to work before then. I know you did something to it. Just admit it.”

The boy glanced around for a moment, then stood up straighter and answered with authority. “Yeah, I did it. I messed with your project.”

In that moment, seven year old Betty thought back on all the movies she’d watched. “I’ll get you for this,” she said with determination. “You are officially my arch nemesis.”

“Good.” Jughead had replied. “Because you’re my arch nemesis.” The fact that she didn't really know what she was saying didn't keep her from saying it.

“Good.” She’d said, and turned and walked away.

And to their credit, they had kept their rivalry going. The third grade spelling bee, Betty came in first, Jughead second. They glared at each other during the awards ceremony. 

The fourth grade math tournament, Jughead came in first, Betty in second. She told him he’d won this time, but she’d be back next time and beat him. He’d given her that irritating smirk that she’d grown to know so well and told her “good luck.” 

Through middle school, through high school, all the way up until graduation day, they’d remained bitter enemies. And then they’d graduated, and she’d thought it was finally over: she’d never have to look at Jughead Jones or his stupid beanie again. And until today, she’d been right. But now, he was walking towards her with that smirk on his face as Ms. Clearwater called both their names.

Betty knew what was coming, but hoping she was wrong.

“Betty, this is Jughead. He’s going to be your Teaching Assistant this summer in writing and he’ll be having the 12 year old boys in the bunk across from yours. He’s also going to be helping you out during craft time. I figured I might as well keep you together for all your classes.”

She hadn’t be wrong.

“Great.” Betty said, with a big fake smile on her face. Her brain was working over time trying to figure out her next move. It had been two years since she’d seen Jughead. A new thought washed over her. Maybe they could start fresh. 

“I’ll leave you two to get to know each other for a few minutes.” Ms. Clearwater cheerily moved past them to talk with Cheryl and Toni. Betty decided it would be easier for everyone if she and Jughead could just get along, a new start for a new summer. But as she opened her mouth to say so, Jughead opened his and said the one word that started all of their fights over the years.

“Elizabeth.”

Betty let out a short laugh. Of course.

“Forsythe.” 

She could see him holding back a wince. He hated being called by his real name even more than she hated being called Elizabeth.

They were both silent for a moment, then he turned to walk away. But Betty had more to say.

“Why did you come here? You know I’ve been working here since forever.”

He sighed and turned back to her.

“Contrary to popular belief, not everything is about you. My little sister just started here and I didn’t know you still worked here. You might keep tabs on me, but I sure don’t pay attention to what you’re doing.”

Betty felt her face redden. He’d been here for all of five minutes and already he was getting under her skin. She couldn’t let this happen. This was meant to be her summer, and she wasn’t going to let him ruin it.

“Sure.” She pasted a sickeningly sweet smile on her face and he matched it with a smirk as she continued. “Whatever you say, Forsythe. See you at the craft table.” And with that, she turned around, flicking her ponytail inches from his face. She heard him make an annoyed sound and smiled to herself.

“Regressing back to high school already I see.” Veronica commented as Betty approached her.

“Nope. He’s nothing to me. Let’s get to breakfast.”

* * * * *

The first breakfast was always spent with your bunk-mates for the summer. In case there were new comers it was a chance for them to meet people and be a part of a group right off the bat. Betty’s group consisted of only six girls. This was normal for the older kids- as they grew up they stopped coming to camp, so there were much smaller groups of them than there were of the little ones. She had all returning campers, so the breakfast was basically just a run down of what had happened during the school year.

There was Liv and Sam, and another girl named Janiya who she’d known since they’d all entered as kindergartners. Claudia had joined the camp two years later, but she was very quiet and usually kept to herself. Then there were Zoe and Marisa, who’d both joined in 3rd grade. These were her core girls- others had come and gone, but these six were in it for the long haul, and Betty was excited to spend one last summer watching them grow.

“So I told him, if you want to date Fiona, that’s your business, but don’t come crying to me when it doesn’t work out,” Zoe was saying. She was the most boy crazy of the group and the only one who’d ever kissed a boy. She’d had her first kiss last summer next to the volleyball courts with a boy named James who she’d never spoken to again. Zoe liked to think of herself as experienced, but that one kiss with James was as far as things went, so as she tossed her dark hair over her shoulder and gossiped about the drama from her school, Betty tried not to laugh.

“We really shouldn’t be dating at this age anyway.” Janiya said, stirring her eggs around on her plate. She was the girl of the group who always followed the rules. In bed at curfew with her head wrap on while the other girls made plans to sneak out of their bunk, which they never followed through with. 

But this year, that would change. It was a well known fact around camp that last year campers always planned a sneaky night out at the campfire pit after everyone else went to sleep. It was such a well known fact, actually, that the staff was all completely aware of it and it wasn’t sneaky anymore, as they pretty much condoned it as long as the kids were back in bed by midnight. 

It was a rite of passage, and Betty was all about it. She could already feel the nostalgia creeping in as Liv chimed in with another story of something that had happened over the year. Liv and Sam were the only two who went to the same school during the year, but somehow the girls always came back together as if they’d never been apart. 

There were places like that in everyones life, Betty thought. Sometimes it was beautiful, like this. But other times, she thought, glancing at Jughead across the cafeteria, it wasn’t beautiful at all. 

* * * * *

Sunday was a special day, because since it was the first day of camp, the different bunks and age groups had activities all day that were meant to help them get to know each other. After breakfast, Betty’s bunk was signed up for a game of dodgeball with the other 4th and 5th graders. It was one of her favorite set ups: boys vs. girls. And because Jughead was the Bunk Leader for the 5th grade boys, he would be playing on the opposing team.

Cheryl sidled up to Betty as her 4th graders joined the field. 

“I’d say go easy on him, but you know that’s not how I am.” Cheryl and Betty eyed Jughead, who was talking with the other group leaders on his team. “So we’re gonna beat their asses right?” Cheryl whispered so that the kids couldn’t hear her.

“Into the ground.” Betty smiled.

Jughead looked over at her as she approached the middle of the field.

“You know how to play, right?” She asked him, arms crossed over her chest.

“It’s dodgeball, not rocket science.”

“We’ll see.” She backed up behind her team line and nodded to the TA who was acting as referee.

“On your marks, get set, dodgeball!”

Betty watched as the boys on Jughead’s team charged forward. She watched as Jughead grabbed a ball and aimed it for her. She dodged it easily as the boys around him threw their balls and realized a moment too late that the girls they were aiming for were standing perfectly still, ready to catch the incoming threat. 

Three boys out in 10 seconds and all the balls in the girls court. Just the way they liked it.

Cheryl walked up next to Betty holding a ball. “Why didn’t you catch it?”

“Because then I wouldn’t get to do this.” Betty trained her eyes on Jughead as the balls started flying again, as he tried to catch a ball that was flying at him from the other side of the group, not realizing that Betty herself had thrown a ball directly at him. It hit him right in his shoulder and when he looked to see who had thrown it, she shrugged at him. But before she looked away, she swore she saw something like a smile on Jughead’s face as he pointed two fingers to his eyes and then to her. Oh its on, she thought, and couldn’t help but smile herself.

* * * * *

The rest of the day flew by. Lunch with her group again. A get-to-know-you game with the 4th and 5th grade girls. Being oldest meant they really needed to know how to work together. They were setting a precedent for the younger kids. A strategy session with her group regarding the final Friday of camp, when there would be an all camp field day competition. Her girls had won 2 years in a row and intended to make it 3. 

Right before dinner time, Betty snuck away from everyone else and walked to the Camp Store. It was their least busy time of the day: the campers had already made their rounds through the candy aisles and stocked up on as many bags of chips as they could. But thats not what Betty was here for.

She approached the older man who always worked the counter with a smile. He’d been at the camp for as long as she could remember, and went only by Pop. At some point, that’s how people started referring to the little store. _“You going to Pop’s today?” “I’m going to make a Pop’s run.”_

And best of all, he was in charge of Betty’s favorite part of camp: the ice cream case. Ever since Betty was little, she would always sneak away before dinner and get a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It was her own special tradition, and she couldn’t even remember why she’d started doing it, but she’d be damned if she stopped now.

“Hey Pop.”

“If it isn’t little Betty Cooper.” He chuckled. “Here for the usual?”

“Yes sir.”

This was Betty’s favorite time of day. The sun would be going down soon, she’d be going to dinner and then the campfire, but right now was a time just for her. She was thinking about this when she heard a jingle from the door.

When she turned around, it was none other than Jughead Jones looking at her from the doorway. He proceeded to walk right up to the ice cream case and begin squinting at the glass.

“Betty, what would you recommend?” he said, without looking at her.

“You’ve got to be shitting me.” she muttered under her breath.

Pop chuckled as he scooped her cone. 

“She’s my most loyal customer. A vanilla cone, every day, at the same time.”

In that moment, Betty wanted to kick Pop in the leg.

“Why am I not surprised?” There was that smirk again. “Betty Cooper, going with vanilla. I’ll get a chocolate cone please.”

Pop finished scooping Betty’s cone and handed it off to her, and she tried to hand him her dollar bill, but he went right on to making Jughead's cone. Betty stood there for a second too long with the dollar out stretched. She didn’t want to be here anymore, but it was her place. Not this interlopers. She set the dollar down just as Pop finished scooping Jughead’s cone.

“Thanks Pop.” She said, and quickly turned to make her way to the door.

“You must be someone pretty special,” she heard Pop saying to Jughead. “Ive never heard her cuss like that. Or seen her leave in such a hurry.”

Betty felt her cheeks redden as she pushed the door open, and imagined what it would be like to kick Pop in both his legs, one right after the other.

But as she heard the door open behind her, she suddenly felt the need to turn around. 

“I don’t care if you’re at my camp, but the least you could do is leave my ice cream spot alone.”

“I didn’t know you owned the place.” His smirk was huge on his stupid face. “By the way, vanilla? Really?

Betty rolled her eyes. “Whats wrong with vanilla?”

“Nothing. But its not a flavor that you get every single day for what, 15 years?”

“Sixteen.”

Jughead raised his eyebrows. “Do you ever do anything different? Not just with ice cream. With everything. Anything out of the box that could end up being a little bit messy but a little bit better than you thought it would be?”

“Of course I do.” But as she racked her brain for an example, she came up blank. And he was looking at her with a knowing smile, because of course he’d known her most of her life, and he knew she was lying.

“Fine.” She threw her free hand up in the air. “You got me. I’ll get strawberry tomorrow.”

She went to turn away from him, but his words stopped her. “How about a challenge?”

This was it. This was the thing that they did all throughout high school. Whether it was an actual competition, or just a look from across the room in an every day situation that said _“you won’t do it. I know you won’t.”_ This was why Betty Cooper had hated Jughead Jones with such a fiery passion for her entire life. He was constantly underestimating her.

She turned back to him. “What do you suggest?”

“Every day, at this time, for the rest of the summer, you will try a different flavor of ice cream from Pop’s. No more vanilla and no repeats.”

She was annoyed. The whole idea of it was stupid. She wanted to say no, to tell him never to come to the ice cream case again, especially at this time of day. But she knew she couldn’t do that.

She let out an aggravated sigh, and saw something change in his face.

“Listen, I think-“ he paused as if he was unsure of what he was going to say next. “I think we need to call a truce.”

“A truce?” she couldn't hide her surprise.

He nodded.

“Yeah. We have to work together. In front of kids. Do you really want to go through the whole summer like this? Fighting whenever we speak? Aiming for each other in every dodgeball match?”

She really really didn’t. 

“No. A truce it is.” 

He held out his hand to shake on it and she reluctantly reached hers out too. After the quickest handshake she could manage, he nodded at her and went to walk away.

Something inside her was churning, a feeling she couldn’t quite place. It was that feeling that made her say it.

“You’re on.”

He paused and looked back to her.

“What?”

“The challenge. You’re on. Tomorrow, same time, same place.”

He smiled at her as she tried to casually take a lick of her half-melted ice cream cone.

“I’ll be here.”


	3. Tie It On Your Wrist

The first night campfire was always one of Betty’s favorite parts of camp. It felt like a new adventure was beginning, one that featured crackling wood and marshmallows. The fire pit was positioned in the center of the camp. On one side of the pit was the first trail of cabins. These were the cabins of the younger kids, the K5, 1st and 2nd bunks. 2nd and 3rd grade were always their biggest groups- right in that sweet spot where parents usually wanted to send their kids away to summer camp to adjust them to the world (and get out of their hair for 2 weeks.) The other side of the fire was the trail of 3rd, 4th and 5th grade bunks. There were four bunks on each side of both rows, adding up to 16 bunks altogether. Next to each trail to the left was a building. These were the bathrooms for the camp. Each of them had a boys room and a girls room- each complete with 8 stalls and 8 showers.

The campfire was like the center of a compass, with these trails being North and South, and two more trails going East and West, one to the lake, and one to the cafeteria and camp store.

Walking to the fire pit, you always saw other groups coming from their bunks, and you all merged together to end up at the big circle of logs where you’d spend the next hour together. Betty saw Jughead coming out of his bunk with the 5th grade boys. He had the same size group as she did, and she noticed some of the boys looking toward her girls. They were too busy looking at a magazine Zoey had brought to even notice. Cheryl and Toni came out of their bunk with the 4th grade girls. It was a bigger group, so Cheryl had somehow lucked out and gotten her girlfriend as her TA. She smiled at Betty with her signature red lip as their groups merged together and the boys caught up. Even though they’d had activities all day long, this was where the summer really began. 

Betty found Veronica and sat down next to her with Janiya on her other side. The younger girl was twirling one of her dark springy curls absentmindedly while Zoey talked loudly next to her. 

“Not into the magazine?” Betty nudged her in the shoulder. 

Janiya shrugged and let go of her hair, letting it spring back in with the other pieces. “They’re taking those quizzes and those things never work.”

“Actually, we’re on to horoscopes now.” Zoey offered.

“Still doesn’t work.” Janiya responded.

“Ms. Betty, do you wanna hear your horoscope?” Olivia called out. 

From the corner of her eye, Betty saw Jughead settling slightly to her left, right behind Olivia, with his group. He looked at Olivia and then at Betty and she could tell he was listening to their conversation. 

“Sure, why not.”

The girls knew all of each others zodiac signs, including Betty’s and Veronica’s. This was something they’d started up last year and clearly not let go of.

“Alright.” Zoey cleared her throat. “Change is on the horizon this month and it might be coming in a way you’d never expect. But you’re ready to start something new, whether you realize it or not, and in this case, new may be intermingled with the old. Trust your gut and push yourself, and you’ll be happy that you did.”

Betty thought about the challenge that Jughead had given her and wondered if her entire horoscope was just one big ice cream metaphor. She glanced his way, but he averted his eyes. Then she heard the clap of Ms. Clearwater calling attention to the center of the circle.

“Hello Campers and Camp Counselors and welcome to the first campfire of the season!”

Everyone clapped and cheered.

“As you can tell, I’m a little too old for this.”

“No you’re not!” A stray voice came from the crowd and was accepted with laughter all around.

“Thank you. But really, this is the part where I past the torch on to my Camp Coordinator Jamie.” She gestured to the woman next to her. Jamie had been hired on as Camp Coordinator 4 years ago. She was 5 years older than Betty, at 26, and had cropped dark hair and bangs and a commanding disposition but somehow managed to still be approachable. She smiled now at everyone in the circle.

“Thank you Ms. Clearwater.” She said to the older woman who was taking a seat in the circle. “Here at Camp Clearwater we have a few opening campfire traditions.”

“We always start our campfires with a camp song. Tonight we’re going to do boom chicka boom. Just repeat after me.”

After the group went through all the verses, laughing along, Jamie instructed them to quiet down and join hands. As Betty grabbed Veronicas hand, they smiled at each other because they knew what was coming next.

“Look up to the stars.” Jamie continued. “We don’t see them enough when we are out in our towns and cities. Every night of camp, we take a moment to look up at them because, dang, aren’t they beautiful?”

Quiet laughter washed over the group. Betty looked up to sky at the spattering of twinkling stars above. As the minute ended, she glanced over at Jughead and saw that he was completely absorbed in the sky himself. 

“Lets light this fire now, shall we?” Jamie smiled.

* * * * *

The campfire was well underway and it was five minutes until curfew. Betty had spent the night helping the little ones make s’mores with Veronica. Daisy, the little girl she’d met this morning, was already getting into the camp spirit and was laughing with other girls from her bunk, marshmallow goo all over her hands.

“Hey guys, I think it’s time.” Betty raised her eyebrows at the 5th grade girls and boys. There was one final tradition at Camp Clearwater fire pits that was far more unofficial, and had been started who knows how long ago, by who knows who, but they had kept it going because sometimes thats just what you do with traditions. Even if you don’t know why you do it, you have fun doing it anyway.

Olivia looked around at the group and took a deep breath. There were noises coming from all around the campfire, but it would only take a minute to quiet everyone down if they all started together. 

“3, 2, 1” Olivia counted down and every 5th grader started in with her at a slow pace.

“We gather round the campfire, and sing our campfire song, our C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E-S-O-N-G song.” Betty looked around as the counselors joined in and the noise died down. “And if you don’t don’t think that we can sing it faster, then you’re wrong, but it’ll help if... you just sing... along…bum bum bum…” As the song picked up its pace and the other kids joined in, Betty felt someone coming up next to her. 

“Spongebob?” Jughead laughed.

“Spongebob.” Betty answered, and for the first time that she could remember, the two of them laughed together. And it felt good.

* * * * *

The following morning, everyone was buzzing with excitement. It was the first day of their normal schedule, and they didn’t know yet what it would bring. Betty ate a bagel in the dining hall and headed to her crafting class with that same buzz of excitement thumping in her chest. She had made a truce with Jughead less than 24 hours ago and she wasn’t sure it would stick, but she was sure that she needed to get through the next hour at least pretending to get along with him. It was completely new territory for her but she just tightened her ponytail and started laying out the craft materials. Class started in 15 minutes, and she wanted to be prepared for a stampede of 5 year olds coming her way.

As she laid out the bags of colored beads, she heard someone walking up behind her, and turned to see none other than Jughead Jones. He was wearing a black Camp Clearwater shirt today with a blue and black flannel tied around his waist. He’d always been a flannel guy, Betty thought, in her pink teeshirt and light wash jean shorts. 

Opposites attract could never be more wrong, she’d always thought. She gave him a tentative smile and he returned it, stepping closer to look at the table.

“So, bracelets today?” He pointed at the string and beads.

“Yeah. We’ll have their regular TA with us to help keep this as organized as possible.”

“Organized chaos versus actual chaos.” He put his hands in his pockets and shifted his weight uncomfortably. He was clearly feeling just as awkward about this as she was.

“Exactly.” She turned back to the table and started focusing on the beads that had symbols on them. Jughead walked closer and watched as she meticulously organized them.

“I’ve seen these bracelets before. I guess its cool for them to get to wear something they made.”

She looked up at him in genuine surprise. “Jughead. These are friendship bracelets.”

“What?”

“You don’t make them to wear yourself, you make them to give to someone else as a sign of friendship.”

He nodded like this was all new to him, which apparently it was. “Well maybe we should make them ourselves then. As a sign of our new friendship.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself.” She paused and thought about it for a moment. “I guess we do need to make examples though.”

“Just string with different colored beads on it? I can do that.” He reached for a string and started perusing the bead options.

“There are letters too, if you want to spell something out. I haven’t finished organizing them yet though.”

He nodded like this was the most serious task in the world. “Alright, well since I’m making it for you, I’m going to go with yellow, gold and white. Because you’re so sunshiny all the time.”

Betty picked up her own string and the baggie of black beads and held them up to him. “By that logic, your’s should be black and grey.”

He pretended to be offended, but she could tell he wasn’t. “Hey, I wear other colors than that. Make one to match my flannel.”

“Blue and black?”

He nodded.

“Okay…”

They gathered their beads and sat down on some rocks near the table, silently stringing their bracelets together for a few minutes. The silence was uncomfortable at first, but it got better as time went on, quicker than Betty thought it would.

As she finished the bracelet and held it, he asked “So you really just tie the string together?”

“Yes.”

“Seems kind of flimsy.” He held both ends of the string and flipped his beads around a couple of times.

“Well theres a whole other part to the friendship bracelet that you clearly haven’t been educated on.”

Jughead raised his eyebrows. “Do tell.”

“So you tie it on your wrist, and you make a wish. And when the bracelet falls off, as it eventually does, your wish comes true.”

"Seriously?" he laughed.

"Maybe, if you're lucky." she countered. 

“This has worked for you?”

“Sometimes. Sometimes not. But its fun to believe in things.” Betty shrugged.

He held out the bracelet he had made and moved his hand toward her wrist hesitantly. It was yellow, white and gold like he’d said, but she also noticed some lettering. 

“B-E-T-T-S. Betts?”

He looked slightly embarrassed. “I couldn’t find the Y so I just rolled with it. Maybe its a nickname?”

Betty laughed. “Right so then what am I gonna call you? Jug?”

“Sure.” He was genuine, and Betty felt like she’d never seen this side of him before. It was like he was letting his guard down, but she also wasn’t sure if she could trust that yet. Still, she held her wrist out to him.

He gently tied the bracelet around her wrist and she held the one she’d made out for him to inspect. It was black and blue like she’d said, but she’d added one bead that had a symbol on it.

“So before you say anything, the crown isn’t supposed to be because you’re a princess or something.”

“Its not?” He gave her an amused look.

“Its supposed to be like your beanie. Sometimes I think it looks like a crown.”

One side of his mouth raised in a half smile. “Okay. I can buy into that.” He held his wrist out and she tied it on as fast as she could.

“So now we both make a wish?” He asked.

“Right.”

He closed his eyes for a moment and opened them. “Done.”

“That quickly? You know exactly what you want?”

He nodded, clearly sure of himself. “Yep. And yours?”

Betty thought for a moment, but nothing came to mind. Maybe she should wish that he would leave, so that they wouldn’t have to keep doing this awkward trying to get along thing. “I’m not sure yet. But its not like I’m going to tell you anyway.”

She looked out at the water. They were lucky enough to have this part of the day near the edge of the lake, but far enough away that small children wouldn’t be running into the water. The sun was shining. A perfect start to camp.

“Thought of one?” Jughead interrupted her thoughts.

“None of your business. Besides, are you going to tell me what YOU wished for?” She challenged him.

“It’s a secret. If I tell you it won’t come true.”

She raised her eyebrows at him. “It’s a bracelet, not a birthday candle.”

He mimicked her eyebrow raise and she tried not to smile. “Too important of a wish to risk it.” He said, and looked out to the lake himself.

She wanted to know what he was wishing for, but she couldn’t think of a thing. Somehow, Betty realized, they’d known each other all their lives and yet didn’t know each other at all. She looked at the boy sitting next to her and wondered if it was finally time for that to change. 

 


	4. Nature Walk

As Betty approached the ice cream stand that night, part of her thought maybe Jughead wouldn’t show. Deep down, she knew there was no way he would pass up an opportunity to compete with her, but what if now that they had a truce, he didn’t want to compete anymore? What if he was feeling just as awkward as she was earlier and didn’t want to see her anymore than he had to?

 

They had taught their first writing workshop today, and he had been surprisingly good with the kids, even the girls from Betty’s bunk who were going through their early feminist stages- she’d heard Sam say on more than one occasion that “every man is so entitled” with nods all around from the other girls. But she seemed to be generally accepting of Jughead, even if she hadn’t given him a smile yet. But it was still weird to Betty, that she was almost wanting to see the good in him. She usually looked for every reason to hate him, but since they were attempting to be- whatever they were attempting to be- she had been trying to ignore those things. But had he been doing the same for her, or was he struggling with trying not to hate her guts?

 

When she saw him walk up a few minutes later, she felt a pang of relief in her chest. She’d never felt anything close to that seeing him, and she immediately put it out of her mind, not wanting to think about what it meant.

 

“You ready?” He gestured to Pops.

 

“Yes. I have a couple of conditions though.”

 

He looked almost impressed. “Go on.”

 

“One. You have to do this with me. But you have to get two scoops together everyday of two different flavors. Just to make things more interesting.”

 

“I can do that.”

 

“And two. I haven’t decided what yet, but at some point, I’m going to give you a challenge and you have to accept. No matter how crazy it is.” She was stretching it with this one and she knew it, but she came to play and she was going to try to get out of it whatever she could.

 

“Done.”

 

Well, that was easier than she’d thought it would be.

 

“So what’s the flavor of the day for Ms. Betty Cooper?”

 

“Cookies and cream.” She replied and they walked into the store together.

 

* * * * *

 

The annual Nature Walk was scheduled for 9 AM. Betty was already having a hard time getting some of the girls up in time for breakfast. One girl in particular.

 

“Stop,” Zoey groaned from her bed as Sam swatted her arm. “Leave me alone.”

 

“It’s Tuesday Zoey. Pancake day.” Olivia called from across the room. “Don’t you want pancakes?”

 

The bunk was small, yet surprisingly big. There were the 10 bunks that came with the cabin, and the girls had pushed the extra bunks together in a corner to make a fort of sorts. Betty’s single bed was by the door. But the girls had also brought some extra things in to make the bunk more their own. They’d learned these tricks over the years, from the older girls and from Betty and Veronica themselves.

 

First, they’d strung fairy lights all across the beams on the ceiling. They weren’t on now, with it being daylight, but at night time, it was beautiful. Zoey had brought in a full length mirror and propped it against the wall. This way, they had a mirror in the bunk and not just in the shared bathrooms. They’d piled some necessities next to it. Scrunchies, some eye shadow, lip gloss and mascara (this was as much make up as any of them ever wore) and an extra hairbrush Marisa had brought from home. Olivia and Marisa were both standing in front of the mirror now, Olivia braiding Marisa’s long dark hair into a fishtail behind her.

 

“Zoey” Sam started shaking her with both hands. “It’s 8 fricking 30! We’re going to breakfast, are you coming?

 

Zoey jolted up in her bed. “It’s already 8:30? Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

 

“You’re right,” Marisa shot back. “We only had 5 alarms go off at 5 minute intervals from 7:30 on and Sam’s only been hitting you for what? 5 minutes straight?”

 

Zoey jumped up and pulled her pants on as quickly as she could. “It’s Pancake Day isn’t it?”

 

“That’s what we said, isn’t it?” Sam sighed, walking out of the bunk as Zoey rushed to throw her hair up in a bun.

 

They were last to arrive at breakfast, and Betty left them to it and went to sit with Cheryl and Kevin.

“Where’s Toni?” She asked. Veronica was across the room helping her little ones, but Toni was nowhere in sight.

 

Cheryl rolled her eyes. “One of our girls tripped on the way here. She went to help her find a bandaid. You know how these kids are with their stupid tiny cuts. It’s like the world ends.”

 

“It was actually pretty gross.” Kevin told Betty. “All up her leg, a lot of blood.”

 

Cheryl just shrugged and ate the last bite of her blueberry muffin.

“So, nature walk today.” She sighed. “An hour and a half of walking around and sweating. Yay.”

 

The K5-3rd graders took a different, easier path with their counselors, while the upper grades went deeper into the forest. It was a more beautiful hike, but there was some uphill on the way back, so Betty didn’t blame Cheryl for complaining.

 

As they finished up their breakfast, the groups got together outside the dining hall. Betty, Cheryl, Kevin, Jughead, Toni and Sweet Pea would be leading the 4th and 5th graders.

 

“The one thing I’m really not feeling this summer is that I’m never with you guys.” Veronica pouted.

 

“Still sharing a blanket at movie night tomorrow?” Betty asked.

 

“Of course, B.” Veronica smiled and went to join her group.

 

As Betty’s friends dispersed and the hike started, Jughead came up to walk next to her.

 

“So, I was thinking about it yesterday, and for as long as we’ve known each other, I actually know nothing about you.”

 

It was strange to hear him echoing her thoughts from the day before. She adjusted the baseball cap on her head and avoided eye contact.

 

“I was actually thinking that too.” She said cautiously.

 

“So I thought maybe this hike would be a chance to have a little bit of conversation. We might get along better if we actually know a thing or two about each other.”

 

“Okay. Let’s try it.” Betty looked down at her dirty pink sneakers as they kicked up dust on the path. She glanced over at Jughead’s wrist and noted that he was still wearing the friendship bracelet she’d given him, just like she was.

 

“For starters, what do we already know?” Jughead asked.

 

“Well, I know that you always wear a flannel,” she pointed to the one he had around his waist today, red and black this time “usually in dark colors. Your favorite pastime is irritating me.”

 

“Haha, very funny.”

 

Betty thought on it for a moment.

“I remember you reading a lot in high school. But I don’t really know what you do now.”

 

“I’m actually studying film direction at the New York Film Academy.”

 

Betty’s jaw dropped.

“I’m at NYU.”

 

Jughead let out a little laugh.

“Small world.”

 

“So we’ve been in the same city the past three years and didn’t even know it?”

 

“It’s not like we were going to invite each other to coffee anyway. And I seem to remember you unfollowing me on all social media immediately after graduation.”

 

Betty blushed, but Jughead pushed forward as they approached the downward slope to the river.

“So what are you studying?”

 

“Journalism. Minor in criminal justice.”

 

“Covering all your bases.”

 

“I considered law at first, but I don’t know if I’d be right for it.” Betty admitted.

 

“I bet you’d be a fantastic lawyer. It’s all about arguing right?”

 

Betty shot him a look and he smirked back.

“Except you don’t get to argue the points you agree with, only the points that will save your client. A client who could be a total jackass.”

 

They were silent for a moment, focusing on walking downhill in the dirt.

 

“So film. Why did you pick that?” She was genuinely interested.

 

“I always liked watching movies. It was something I grew up doing a lot. I thought it would be interesting to be on the other side of the screen, making the magic happen so to speak.”

 

“That makes sense.” Betty replied.

 

“I remember watching The Breakfast Club when I was around their age.” He gestured to the kids in front of them. “That montage where they’re all dancing in the library?” Betty nodded to show that she knew what he was talking about. “I thought it was so cool, and then I realized that I was thinking about the choices the directors and the editors must have made. That was it for me. My a-ha moment.”

 

Betty completely understood this.

 

“Mine was in English in 7th grade. We did this project where we had to read current newspaper articles and old newspaper articles and compare the writing styles. I was reading this article from the 70’s about the Watergate Scandal and I started thinking how cool it must have been to be the first person to report on that. Then I started thinking I wanted to be the first person to report on something, some groundbreaking moment or huge scandal.”

 

“I’m picturing a lightbulb going off over 13 year old Betty Coopers head.” Jughead commented.

 

Betty smiled.

“Basically.”

 

As they arrived at the river, the kids started walking over the small makeshift rock bridge that went across it. Betty waited for everyone to cross and then stood in the center of the bridge, watching the water pass around her feet, between the rocks, and the small green leaves and wildflowers that would float by and sometimes get caught on the side of a particularly jagged rock. Jughead cleared his throat.

 

“Its really something to look at.”

 

“No offense, but are you really an outdoorsy kind of guy?”

 

“I’m not sure. But I’d like to be. P.S. you’ve never used the words no offense towards me before.”

 

“Betty!” Cheryl called from up ahead, giving her a pointed look and gesturing impatiently. She’d mentioned her truce with Jughead at breakfast, but everyone was still very confused by it, and as Betty and Jughead approached Cheryl put her hands on her hips and surveyed him top to bottom.

 

Betty could see him blushing.

 

“I’m Cheryl Blossom. I don’t know if you remember me.”

 

“How could anyone ever forget?” Jughead replied good-naturedly.

 

She was eyeing the flannel around his waist and pursed her lips. “You make a good point. For a lumberjack.”

 

“Cheryl!” Tonis voice carried from farther up the path.

 

“My love is calling. Have a nice hike.” She gestured to Betty and gave him a steely look. “And don’t touch her.”

 

Jughead let out a short laugh as she walked away. “What does that even mean?”

 

“Who knows. She’s probably just trying to freak you out. It’s kind of her thing.” Betty watched as Cheryl sidled up to Toni and pushed a piece of pink hair over her shoulder playfully.

 

“I remember from high school. It was always you and her and Veronica. You three were like the powerpuff girls.”

 

“Veronica and I have been best friends ever since we were five. Her and Cheryl have always been there for me.”

 

Jughead nodded.

“Veronica was always the talk of the boys locker room. Every guy in that school was obsessed with her.”

 

“Including you?” Betty teased.

 

“She’s not my type.” He said bluntly. Betty felt like this was a lie. Veronica was everyone’s type.

 

“Wait.” Betty stopped in her tracks and Jughead matched her steps. “So if we’re the powerpuff girls, does that make me Bubbles?”

 

He smiled.

“Of course. Sugar and spice and everything nice.”

 

“Right. And you’re snakes and snails and puppy dog tails?”

 

“Nah. I’m Mojo Jojo.”

 

Betty burst into laughter and when she looked at Jughead’s face, she saw the biggest smile she’d ever seen on him as he watched her.

 

* * * * *

 

After the hike, Betty was lucky enough to get to go to the lake with the older kids. It was getting hotter outside as the day went on and she stopped back at her bunk to switch from tank top and shorts to bathing suit and shorts.

 

There were always two lifeguards down by the lake, stationed along the jump dock that floated out in the back of their swim area. Only the 4th and 5th graders were allowed to go out that far, and only after passing their swim inspection, which had been held on the first day of camp. For the older kids, there were only two counselors stationed there with them. The younger ones had significantly more because they made worse uninformed choices and sometimes didn’t know how to swim.

 

This was yet another area where Betty was stationed with Jughead. As she walked up behind him with the girls, she wondered, not for the first time, if Ms. Clearwater knew about their history and was trying to mess with them. But she knew that was impossible.

 

“Race you to the dock?” Zoey asked and before anyone could answer her, she started running, Sam, Marisa and a couple of 4th grade girls following in her wake.

 

Olivia walked down the small beach with a towel and laid it out, calling Janiya and Claudia to come lay with her on the sand. They’d go in eventually but for a while they liked to soak up the sun and relax.

 

“Ms. Betty! Mr. Jughead! Come sit with us!” Olivia called out.

 

Betty surveyed the area. There was another group of 4th grade girls sitting a few feet away from where Olivia had set up and the rest of the kids were in the water. All she could really do now was watch them, and just about everyone in her group was a good swimmer. So she went over and sat down between Olivia and Janiya, and Jughead joined them on Janiya’s other side.

 

Olivia let out a content sigh and threw her head back. “This is my favorite part of the day.”

 

Betty understood what she meant. It was the most relaxing part of the day before their free time and campfire. And the sun beat down, making their skin warm and everything around them bright.

 

Betty watched as a group of boys talked in the water. They were out of ear shot, but she saw them looking at her little group. Suspicious, she thought. She looked at Olivia next to her, in a bikini, her gold hair bright in the sunlight. She was already hitting puberty and well. That explains it.

 

Meanwhile, Janiya had her one piece on under her shorts and teeshirt with her thick hair in a bun on top of her head and had started reading a book. Claudia had laid down completely on her back, staring at the sky with her sunglasses on.

 

“What’s up with these guys?” Betty was asking Jughead, but Janiya answered before he could.

 

“They’re boys. Their hormones are out of control. They don’t know what they’re doing with themselves.”

 

Jughead laughed. “You’re not wrong.”

 

Betty looked out at the small group of three boys. Two of them were nudging another one and looking their way. The one being nudged had worn his glasses out into the water as if he had no intention of going under. And then suddenly, he was walking their way.

 

Betty glanced at Olivia, who wasn’t paying attention to a thing that had been said, and felt nervous for the poor boy. But as he approached them, he didn’t go towards Olivia. Instead, he beelined straight towards Janiya, who was now engulfed in her novel.

 

“Hey.” He started, and when he got no response from her, he looked nervously at Jughead, who raised his eyebrows.

 

Wait a second. Was Jughead in on this?

 

The boy cleared his throat and tried again. “Hey, Janiya.”

 

She looked up at him, her face complete seriousness and no warmth.

 

“That’s a really good book. It’s my favorite in the series.” He gestured to what she was reading. Catching Fire, Betty noted, the second Hunger Games book.

 

“You’ve read it?” Janiya looked surprised. Most of the guys she’d met weren’t into reading, Betty remembered from their prior conversations. Meanwhile, it was one of Janiya’s favorite things to do.

 

The boy nodded. “Yeah. Finnick is my favorite.”

 

Janiya looked genuinely impressed, and Betty tried to hide a smile. She glanced at Jughead and saw him doing the same.

 

“I really like Johanna so far.” Janiya replied. “She’s a real bad-A.”

 

Betty smiled. Even though most nights in their bunk she let them use some curse words, Janiya would never swear.

 

The boy nodded seriously. “Yeah, she’s really cool. She gets even more awesome as the series goes on.”

 

A boy complimenting a female character? This was right up her bunks feminist alley.

 

“Sorry, I don’t know your name.” Janiya phrased it as a question.

 

“Caleb.” Betty suddenly realized that he’d been going to the camp just as long as Janiya had. But he’d never talked to her or any of the other girls before.

 

Betty glanced at Janiya, who was getting into the conversation, and stood up to give them some privacy. She gave Jughead a look that told him to do the same.

 

As they walked back to a picnic table on the grass, she had to ask.

 

“Did you know about this? He totally has a crush on her.” She pulled her water bottle out of her bag and checked the temperature on her phone. 86. Great.

 

“Yeah. The other boys were teasing him about it the other night. Apparently its been a long running crush. He’s never gotten up the courage to talk to her.” Jughead pulled a bag of crackers out of his backpack and popped it open.

 

“And let me guess. You gave him that courage?”

 

“I helped.” Jughead shrugged. “Boys don’t know how to talk to girls that they like. Especially at that age.”

 

Betty remembered Jughead at that age, his beanie a little bit too big for his head. His arms too long for his body. She looked back to see Janiya standing up to talk to Caleb.

 

“I hope she’s okay.” Betty said quietly. “I don’t know if she’s ever even talked to a boy.”

 

“She’s got this. She’s a little firecracker, that one.”

 

She looked over to see him smiling, and realized suddenly that she’d seen him smiling more in the last 48 hours than she had the last 10 years. Maybe this tentative friendship thing wasn’t so bad after all.

 

“Yeah.” Betty replied. “She is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is sort of a long chapter. I hope you liked it! xx
> 
> I have this whole image of all the girls in Betty’s bunk, but I haven’t written it all out because I’m sure not everyone would want to read it. But I’m going to add it here in case anyone wants some extra help in picturing them. (Feel free to picture them however you want, but this is how I picture them.)
> 
> Olivia is obviously the Betty, she has medium-long length blonde hair that she likes to wear half up/half down or in a ponytail and green eyes.
> 
> Sam is the Veronica, has medium length dark hair, she’s Latina and as mentioned previously, she always has a different kind of hairstyle going on, imagine whatever you want.
> 
> Zoey is the tallest, (btw I realize I have inconsistencies in the spelling of her name, I actually have a student named Zoey and I was misremembering if I spelled it the same way she does or not. P.s. my student is nothing like this Zoey, she’s only 6 years old and a pure angel.) anyway, Zoey has long dark caramel brunette hair, usually wears it down, brown/hazel eyes.
> 
> Janiya (also named after a student of mine and much more similar in vibes- rule follower, etc, although mine is 6) is African American, big curly wavy hair, that she sometimes tames, sometimes doesn’t. She’s the shortest of the girls.
> 
> Claudia has fairly short jet black short hair, bangs, is asian (idk if I imagine her this way because of the babysitters club? Shout out to all my people who used to read that), dark brown eyes..
> 
> Marisa is also Latina, very long hair, down to her butt almost. Usually tries to tame it somehow.
> 
> Like I said, picture whatever you want, but this is how I would have written them if I was going into detail.  
> :)


	5. Movie Night

“So how does this whole movie under the stars thing work?” Jughead asked the next day, between licks of his Green Tea and Chocolate Chip double scoop. He and Betty were sitting on top of a picnic table across the path from Pop’s, in the shade of a tree. This had become their usual ice cream spot. The shade kept their ice cream from melting too quickly, and it gave them a good view of both the path back to camp, and the area beyond it.

“So instead of meeting at the campfire at 8, we all meet at the bottom of that hill behind the dining hall.” Betty gestured her Mint Chip cone towards the downward slope in the distance. “They set up the movie down there on this giant canvas with a projector and everyone brings blankets and snacks and sits wherever they want.”

Jughead nodded. “When do we find out what the movie is?”

She gave him a pointed look. “I already know what the movie is because I listen when Jamie gives us the next day forecast at the campfire counselor meetings.”

“What movie is it?”

“Tangled.”

“No.” He shook his head and took a quick lick of his ice cream.

“What do you mean, no?”

“I mean no. Why is that the movie?”

“We work at a camp for children.” Betty raised her eyebrows.

“Right, but there are all the Pixar films, superhero movies, all kinds of kid friendly stuff. Why does it have to be a princess movie? The boys in my bunk are gonna riot.”

“It’s a good movie.” Betty said, noticing a streak of melted ice cream getting dangerously close to her hand. 

“I’ve never seen it.”

“Well then you’re in for a treat.” Betty successfully prevented her ice cream from dripping all the way down her arm and took another lick.

“I bet its the same as all those movies right?”

“Are you a princess movie hater?”  
Betty covered her chest in mock-offense. But if she was being honest, she was a little bit serious.

She saw his cheeks get red and he averted his eyes.  
“Confession time. I don’t know if you remember this, but I didn’t have that many friends in elementary school.”  
He paused and Betty thought back to realize he was right. She never saw him hanging out with anyone. He was kind of a dork. 

Jughead let out a huge sigh and closed his eyes before continuing. “I used to watch Sleeping Beauty and The Little Mermaid on repeat on Saturdays since I wasn’t hanging out with anyone.” He opened one eye as if to see her response. “So I know a thing or two about princess movies. But ultimately, theres true loves kiss or that general boy saves girl nonsense. That whole man is the hero thing is so overplayed.” 

This made Betty smile.  
“If you think that’s nonsense, I think you’ll like this one.”

“We’ll see.” Jughead said, taking the last bite of his cone. “But you owe me now.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“I told you something embarrassing about myself. Now it’s your turn.”

“I didn’t ask you to tell me that.” Betty pointed out.

“But you were very clearly judging me. I had to defend myself.”

Betty sighed. “Okay.” It only took her a few seconds to think of something to say. “When I was 7, my parents used to try to do family movie night. This was right before they got a divorce, so I think they were trying to save their marriage or something.”

Jughead nodded. Betty remembered that his parents had divorced a year before hers. His mom had left town, just like her dad had.

“Anyway, they rented E.T. thinking that we would all watch it as a family. But as soon as I saw E.T. on the tv screen, I started sobbing and ran to my bedroom. I was terrified.”

“E.T.? Like the same E.T. who is best friends with a little boy and basically the most gentle creature to ever exist?”

“The very same.”

Jughead’s eyes widened in shock.  
“But you like the movie now right?”

“I’ve never watched it.”

“You’re kidding.”

“I’m not.” 

Jughead burst into laughter at this.

“It’s not like I’d be scared of him now.” Betty tried to defend herself.

“Sure. Whatever you say.” Jughead shook his head as his laughter died down.

Betty had been thinking about something for a few days now, but wasn’t sure how to bring it up. Now seemed as good a time as any.  
“Can I ask you something that might be rude?”

Jughead raised his eyebrows.  
“Since when are you worried about being rude to me?”

“True.” Betty admitted. “I just wanted to ask you…” she trailed off.

“Out with it.” He said. “It can’t be that bad.”

“Why do you wear that hat all the time?” She asked. “I mean, it’s hot outside. It’s almost 90 degrees and you have a beanie on, I don’t understand it.”

“I just have really messy hair, that’s all. No one needs to see what’s going on under here.” Jughead casually stood up to throw his napkin away, and Betty could tell that there was more to the beanie than he was letting on, but she decided not to push it.

As he walked back to her, he pointed to her almost finished ice cream cone.  
“So how are you liking Mint Chip?”

“Confession time.” Betty imitated him. “I’ve actually had Mint Chip ice cream before.”

Jughead let out a dramatic gasp. “Betty Cooper. Are you cheating?”

“There were no rules about that. Only that I had to have things other than vanilla.”

“Well I think you need to expand your repertoire a bit more. There are 20 flavors in that ice cream shop. Live a little.”

Betty looked out at the sky. The sun was on its last leg before it started descending. It was one of those summertime moments where you get that exciting feeling in your chest like there’s a whole world out there waiting to be explored. 

“I’ll try something crazy tomorrow.” She said to Jughead. And she meant it.

* * * * *

As Betty’s bunk walked down the hill for movie night, she saw Veronica waiting with a blanket at the back of the crowd. She let her girls find a spot more in the middle and joined her best friend.

“I feel like I haven’t seen you in years.” Veronica said, offering Betty a thermos of hot chocolate from the dining hall. Betty took it gratefully.

“I know. But now that camp’s really started you’ll be able to float around a bit more. You’re working Capture the Flag with me on Friday right?”

“But of course.” Capture the Flag was a long standing camp tradition for the older kids and counselors. Betty smiled and began to lay out the snacks she had bought from Pop’s. A giant bag of white cheddar popcorn, a personal-sized bag of Cool Ranch Doritos, Veronica’s favorite, and a box of Junior Mints. Veronica immediately reached for the bag of Doritos and popped it open. 

“This is why you’re my best friend. You know exactly which snacks are my favorite.”

“It’s in the job description.” The space in front of the screen was filling up and Betty could see Toni and Cheryl cuddled on their own blanket a few rows in front of them. Now that she was looking around, Betty realized that the only group that hadn’t arrived yet was the 5th grade boys. Just as she realized this, she heard a group approaching behind her. 

The boys filled in the only space left, a chunk of grass to her left. And suddenly Jughead was there, the only spot available to him the spot next to her. 

He looked at her with a question in his eyes. Sure, they’d been getting along okay, but was it acceptable for him to sit next to her at this movie? She nodded to him, partly because she didn’t have a choice, but partly, she realized, because she actually had started to like being around him. It’s funny how much can change in 72 hours, Betty thought. A whole lifetime of hatred unravelled in 4 days time.

As he sat down next to her, she looked around to mark in her mind where all her girls were. Sam and Olivia were a couple of rows in front of them, sharing their own blanket and popcorn from Pop’s. And off to her left, she saw the other girls sitting together- with a few boys from Jughead’s bunk settling in right behind them. Janiya turned around and gave a small smile to Caleb as he sat down. 

“So what’s the hot gossip from your bunk?” Betty asked Jughead.

“Not much. Just that Caleb finally talked to her and now he doesn’t know where to go from here. What about you?” Jughead eyed the gigantic bag of popcorn on Betty’s blanket.

“I don’t think Janiya has a clue that he actually likes her.” Betty shrugged.

“Typical.” Jughead was now blatantly staring at the popcorn. 

“Excuse me, but if you wanted popcorn so bad, then why didn’t you get any yourself?” Betty accused, shaking him out of his stupor.

“I didn’t know that I wanted the popcorn until I saw the popcorn. And now its too late.”

Betty checked her phone. “You’ve got 3 minutes before go time. And Jamie will do a whole introduction beforehand so you really have about 5.”

“I don’t even know where the popcorn is in Pops.”

Betty glanced over at Veronica, who’s focus was split between some model’s instagram that she had pulled up and her bag of Doritos, which was already almost gone.

“V, do you want another bag? I think I’m gonna go up to Pops real quick.”

Veronica glanced up from her phone and nodded.  
“You sure? Do you want me to come with you?”

Betty shook her head.  
“Nah, save our seat.”

She looked back at Jughead and he gave her a conspiratorial smile.  
“Five minutes on the clock.” He said and they both stood to run up the hill.

Pop’s normally closed at 8, since that was the time the campfire started, but on movie nights he stayed open a little longer for moments just like this.  
As Jughead and Betty reached the store, she shouted out “Hey Pop!” And then pointed to the three long aisles that led to the drink freezer. 

“Aisle one” she pointed, and Jughead nodded like he was being taught how to perform surgery rather than how to find things in a corner store. “Candy. This is where you go for your M&M’s, your Skittles, your bags of assorted chocolates. Aisle two: Bakery Items. This is where you find your mini cakes and donuts, bagels, muffins. And aisle three: Salty Snacks. AKA Chips, Popcorn, pretzels.”  
She started down the aisle with determination. 

“Grab whatever you want.” Betty said, immersing herself in the pretzel area, looking for some cheese filled mini pretzels. She sifted past the peanut butter ones and found a cheese pack in the back. Then she slid to her right and started rummaging in the Doritos section for Veronica’s Cool Ranch. 

Suddenly, she realized that Jughead hadn’t moved. She looked back to see him standing at the front of the aisle watching her. Was that admiration on his face? Betty felt heat on her cheeks. But as soon as her eyes met his, he was moving, grabbing a bag of popcorn from the shelf without even looking at it.

“2 minutes Cooper. Hurry up.” He said, turning his back to her and walking quickly to the checkout.

Pop looked at the two of them and nodded them along, saying that they’d owe him tomorrow, but for now “get down to your movie, kids.”

As they exited the store, Betty felt a cool breeze momentarily take away some of the heat. There was no campfire tonight, and no ritual of looking at the stars, but Betty stopped for just a moment and looked up at them herself. Some of her view was blocked by trees from where they were now, but somehow that just made it more beautiful.  
That summer feeling came over Betty again, like there was a whole world out there and she refocused into her part of it and smirked at Jughead the way he had smirked at her so many times. 

“Race ya.” She said and started running down the hill.

“Cheater!” She heard him yelling from behind her, but his legs were faster than hers and soon he was right next to her, both of them barreling towards Veronica, who turned to look and rolled her eyes. Jamie was just finishing up her introduction in front of the movie screen.

As Betty landed next to her best friend, she breathlessly asked “Who won?”

“It was a tie.” Veronica shrugged.

“There are no ties.” Jughead argued, and Betty saw Veronica’s eyes light up. She could feel a debate coming and she was so ready to watch Jughead get crushed, but then the movie started playing.

“Shhh.” She passed the new Doritos bag to Veronica, who had folded the old one up in front of her neatly. “It’s starting.”

“You’ve already seen this.” Jughead pointed out.

“But you haven’t. So pay attention.” 

He looked like he was going to say something more, but Betty ignored him and watched as Rapunzel set up her story.

* * * * *

Betty and Veronica had been thirteen when Tangled came out. Most of the kids in their class had been completely against seeing it, as they were in middle school now, and in middle school, you don’t go to the movie theatre to see Disney movies. That was baby stuff, and they were all going to spend their weekend playing GTA or walking through Victoria’s Secret and using all their tester makeup without buying any. 

While they were doing that, Betty and Veronica went to the movie theatre, got a large popcorn with Veronica’s generous allowance and saw Tangled on the big screen. Betty felt a connection to Rapunzel at the time, because their hair was so similar in color, and Betty felt that her mom was also a controlling villain in her own right. When Rapunzel finally saw the floating lanterns and turned around to see that Flynn had brought one for her, Betty and Veronica both sighed happily. And when Flynn told Rapunzel that she was his new dream, Betty hit Veronica’s leg and they both grabbed for each others hands in anticipation and nervousness.

“I know he’s a cartoon, but I think I have a crush on him anyway.” Veronica commented as they left the theatre.

“I don’t know if I have a type, but if I do, I think it’s him.” Betty responded.

Now, they sat on their blanket, scattered wrappers and empty boxes strewn in front of them, as Flynn once again told Rapunzel she was his new dream.

“And you were mine.” Betty whispered along with the movie.

“I wish a guy would look at me the way he looks at her. But no, all we have out here in this desolate wasteland is a bunch of scrubs.” Veronica commented, shaking her head.

Betty stifled a laugh at that.

As the movie finished and the credits began to roll, Betty turned to Jughead. “So what do you think? Girl saves the boy in this one right?”

“That scene was too emotional for a kids movie. They had no right.” 

“But it was so good though right?”

“Absolutely.” Jughead nodded sincerely. “Girls hair has magical powers that defy aging. Jerk with a heart of gold gets the girl. Inspirational.” He smirked at her and she realized he was messing with her.

Without thinking, she gave him a light shove on his arm. As soon as she did it, she realized that it was probably out of line. They’d never really touched each other before, unless you counted giving each other the bracelets. You can’t just go around touching people whenever you want, especially your sworn enemy turned...whatever this was.

But Jughead just gave her that shit eating grin as if it didn’t bother him in the slightest. 

It got Betty thinking though, as she helped Veronica fold up her blanket, that while Jughead was still as competitive as ever, he wasn’t her enemy anymore. Could it be that Jughead Jones was actually…her friend? It was a strange thought, one she’d never thought she’d have. But there it was. Enemies don’t get ice cream together every day. Acquaintances don’t admit to each other their embarrassing childhood routines. But friends might.

She watched as Jughead talked to Caleb and another boy from his cabin a few feet away. He was nodding at them, listening contently. Betty wondered what they were talking about. Caleb was waving his hands around in excitement and Jughead was smiling in return, letting him go on about whatever it is that had him so worked up. 

“B?” Veronica’s voice shook her out of her trance. “You ready to go?”

“Yeah.” Betty replied quietly as her group started to walk up the hill and away from whatever conversation Jughead was having. Betty didn’t know why she had cared anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and commenting everyone! I hope you liked this new chapter!


	6. Debate Club

“Alright. Are you ready kids?” Kevin had his phone timer out and looked from Veronica to Archie with a grin on his face.

“Born ready.” Veronica smiled slyly and pretended to dust off the shoulders of her black V neck.

Archie shook his head at her but said to Kevin “Go ahead Kev.”

Two days ago, during their dinner break, the group had somehow gotten onto the subject of high heels. Cheryl made a comment that “anything less than 5 inches can’t really be called a heel” and Veronica, of course, took this as a major challenge and started debating Cheryl on the pros and cons of smaller heels while everyone else watched in awe. It was a surprisingly heated debate, and Cheryl was always one of Veronica’s best opponents. When the debate ended (as previously mentioned, Veronica had never lost a debate in her life- even to Cheryl) Veronica announced proudly “No one out debates Veronica Lodge.” 

Jughead hadn’t realized what he was starting when he said “Maybe no one can out debate Veronica, but imagine the rest of us fighting for the cornucopia of second place Hunger Games style.” 

Betty thought maybe he’d been talking to Caleb too much. 

But as soon as he dropped this comment so casually, a wave of excitement had rushed over both Veronica and Cheryl like a tidal wave and suddenly, dinner time was debate time, with no worries about time running out since a free hour followed it. If Betty had been in charge, there might have been an official line up, but as things were, they’d rolled a chalkboard into the counselor lounge off the dining hall and rolled with things as they came. 

Right now the board read: 

_Cheryl- 2_

_Toni- 1_

_Archie- 0_

_Betty- 1_

_Jughead- 1_

_Sweet Pea- 1_

Two players would be selected, then the rest of the group would come up with a topic. The players then had to choose between the two options without knowing what they were and then argue as best as they could for their side even if they didn’t agree with it.

Fast forward to today. Archie had made a comment to Veronica earlier in the day about her pasta necklace making skills, which she had argued warranted a beating tonight, and besides, she added, she could inspire the other contestants. Everyone had been on board with it, as Archie had quickly proven to be the worst debater among them, so it would be fun to watch him go against the shark herself.

“Okay. This is going to be a choose your player experience. Instead of getting two options, you will get to choose randomly from a category and argue which item from that category you think is best.” Kevin explained.

Archie gave Kevin a confused look.

“You’ll understand once you hear the category. Which Betty will now announce to you in 3, 2, 1…”

Betty put on her best game show voice. “The question that we are asking you today is: What is the best way to eat potatoes?”

Archie’s eyes lit up like a Christmas tree and he quickly made a buzzer sound.

“The best way to have potatoes is French fries. Everyone loves a good French fry, and you can dip them in anything that you want.” He glanced at Veronica, then added “to maximize the flavor.” He was catching on that bigger words and more explanations would help his case.

He looked proud of himself, but Veronica shook her head and Betty could tell that she had something up her sleeve.

“Ah yes,” Veronica smiled. “French fries, the good old American way. But there is another form of potato that has been making its way up the ladder for some time now. Ladies and gentlemen.” She gestured to the other counselors. “May I remind you of a little thing called tater tots? Some might say that they are very similar in style to the classic French fry, but I beg to differ. My opponent has told you that you can dip a French fry in anything that you want. But with tater tots, you don’t have to dip. You can get them with whatever you want already inside. Cheddar cheese? They have it. Sour cream? They have it. And its all cooked together, leaving your potatoes and your choice ingredients at the same heat, making that first bite of crispy goodness all that much better when you taste what’s inside. Not to mention, tater tots are the perfect size to be eaten in one bite, chock full of flavor all at once. Tastier and easier.” She looked at Archie and smiled. “To maximize your flavor. I rest my case.” She gave a bow to her audience and Betty and Cheryl clapped for her.

“All in favor of Ronnie say aye.” Kevin announced.

“Aye.” said every person in the room, including Archie, which warranted laughter and more applause from everyone else.

“You were a worthy opponent.” Veronica offered her hand to Archie.

He took it but shook his head at her. “Don’t lie to me, Ronnie.”

“Okay. One more and then we go get ready for the campfire.” Cheryl looked around the room and her eyes landed on Betty. A wicked look came over her face. “Betty and Jughead. You two haven’t gone up against each other yet.”

Betty looked at Jughead to see how he was reacting to this. The two of them had been on the debate team in high school for one meeting. The supervisor had then kicked them off because they were arguing with each other when it wasn’t even their turn and disrupting the rest of the team. Jughead smiled at Betty and shrugged. 

“Let’s do it.”

“Alright choose.” Kevin said. “For or against?”

“Against.” Betty said quickly.

Jughead raised his eyebrows. “I guess I’ll take for then.”

Veronica, Kevin and Cheryl whispered among themselves, coming up with a topic. While they waited, Betty gave Jughead a sweet smile. “I hope you know I’m going to beat you to a pulp.”

Jughead smirked back. “We’ll see about that.”

Betty scoffed at him and adjusted her ponytail. She had warned him.

“Alright.” Kevin sat up straighter as Veronica and Cheryl backed away from him. “Veronica will be delivering your topic in 3, 2, 1…”

“Does pineapple belong on pizza? Starting arguments?”

Jughead looked at Betty and mimicked a bow. “Ladies first.”

Oh it was on. 

Betty smiled. “First of all, pineapple is a fruit. You wouldn’t put berries on your pizza, would you, Forsythe?” She looked at Jughead and crossed her arms.

She saw his eyes widen at her use of his real name and heard Toni choke on her water trying not to laugh. Betty wasn’t here to play.

“You make a good point Elizabeth. Pineapple is a fruit- widely known for being an amazing source of vitamin C and fiber, so you can feel like you’re being healthy while you’re eating your pizza.”

Betty raised her hand. “Rebuttal.”

Kevin nodded for her to continue.

“But really, your pizza isn’t healthy. You’re still eating sauce, cheese and crust. Why try to add a healthy topping? If you’re already going to be unhealthy, take it all the way and get an unhealthy topping too.”

Until this point, they’d be addressing their audience, but now Jughead turned to look at Betty straight on, and she copied his movements.

“But is it hurting you if your friend wants pineapple on their pizza?” Jughead challenged.

“If we are sharing a pizza, yes.”

Jughead crossed his arms and took a step closer to her.

“You can pick it off.”

Betty copied his movements exactly, and felt irritation rise in her chest. This was a signature move of his. The closer they were, the more apparent his height became. It forced her to look up towards him as he towered over her.

“I don’t want soggy pineapple juice on my pizza.” Betty said indignantly. “And you can’t wipe that off. It’ll be there forever.”

They were staring at each other with an intensity that Betty hadn’t felt in a long time.

Veronica cleared her throat and Betty snapped to attention.

“Closing statements?” Veronica asked, raising an eyebrow.

Jughead held his eyes on Betty for a moment more, as if it was a staring contest and she’d lost. She made a point not to look at him until he turned to face the rest of the counselors and delivered his closing argument. 

“Ultimately, pineapple on pizza is a fun debate to have. If we outlawed pineapple pizza, people wouldn’t be worked up over it. So I ask the shit stirrers on our judging panel this evening: why get rid of such an easy way to stir shit up?”

Betty saw Cheryl nod, but she smiled to herself at this. He was clearly reaching. Meanwhile, she hadn’t even pulled out her biggest point yet.

“Do we want our friendships to end in pizza places? And besides, Gordon Ramsey himself, a professional chef, said that pineapple does not belong on pizza. And Gordon Ramsey is never wrong. Or at least you never want to argue against him.”

“And time.” Kevin announced. “All in favor of Jughead say aye.”

Sweet Pea and Cheryl both said it, and Betty shot daggers at her friend. Cheryl just shrugged. “I liked his point.”

“All in favor of Betty?”

Veronica, Kevin, Archie and Toni all responded, and Betty smiled to herself. Take that, Jughead. She turned to look at her opponent and saw him smiling.

“You got me this time.” He said. “But next time you’re going down.”

He offered his hand to her and she took it, with a smile spreading across her own face. 

“We’ll see.”

 

* * * * *

 

An hour later, Betty was positioning a marshmallow on a stick and preparing to put it in the fire. The s’mores station wasn’t as busy as usual tonight because the older girls were busy teaching the younger girls how to play Miss Mary Mack. Betty had watched for a few minutes before wandering over to the marshmallows and sitting on a log on the other side of the fire. She took a look around the fire as she held her 2 marshmallows above it and saw Jughead headed her way with a marshmallow of his own. 

“Hey.” He said, sitting down next to her. “So I hate to say this but I need a favor.”

Betty raised her eyebrows. “Jughead Jones asking me for help? I never thought I’d see the day.

“Ha ha.” He said dryly, but the twinkle in his eyes said he found this just as funny as she did. “So, as you know, some of the boys in my bunk have been coming to the realization that girls exist.”

“They do.” Betty smiled and twisted her stick.

“Caleb is freaking out. He’s talked to Janiya twice now, but he has no idea if she’s into him. The other boys are trying to coach him, but he’s afraid to do anything more until he has some idea of what she thinks of him. I stupidly told them that I could figure it out for them.” Jughead sighed. “I have an image to protect you know?”

Betty laughed. “Are you asking me to tell you if Janiya likes him?”

Jughead nodded.

“I don’t know. I hate to break it to you but Janiya doesn’t really talk about these things. She’s more concerned with correct grammar usage than boys.”

“I don’t blame her for that. But…could you see if you could get some intel for me?”

Betty rolled her eyes. “We are having a sleepover party tonight.” She admitted. The girls had plans to stay up late and paint each others nails and take quizzes from the magazines that Zoey had brought. The girl seriously had a whole bag full of the things. “I’ll let you know if anything comes up. But-“ she held up her finger. “I will not be outed as some kind of mole. I need to be anonymous.”

“You have my word.” Jughead crossed his heart and stuck his marshmallow in the fire. While Betty was holding hers above it, trying to get it the exact right shade of golden, he shoved his right into the flames and quickly burnt the entire outer layer. 

“Yuck,” Betty commented.

“Have you ever actually had a burnt marshmallow?” Jughead challenged.

“No, but I can’t see why anyone would want to.” Betty pulled her perfectly golden marshmallow out of the fire and inspected it.

“Try it.” Jughead suddenly stuck his marshmallow in her face.

“No.” Betty moved her face away from the blackened fluff in front of her.

“I know it looks completely unappetizing on the outside, but on the inside its actually perfect.” She started to object again but when she turned to him the look in his eyes told her that for some reason it was really important to him that she understood this.

“Fine.” She aquiesced. “Give it to me.”

They traded sticks and she took the burnt marshmallow off the top reluctantly. He watched as she bit it in half and her eyes widened. It was extra gooey inside and some of it was sticking to her fingers, but he hadn’t been lying about its quality.

“That’s actually really good.” She admitted.

“See? A little bit messy, but a lot better than you thought it would be.” He echoed the words he’d said to her outside the ice cream shop the day they’d made their truce. And she had to admit that he was right as she popped the rest of the marshmallow in her mouth. Messy, but somehow perfect.

 

* * * * * 

 

“Alright.” Zoey said in a commanding voice. They’d created a circle on the floor of their cabin with nail polish in the middle. Between Marisa and Zoey, they had 15 color options. Sure, 5 of them were just different shades of pink, but who cares? Betty was leaning against the foot of a bed with Janiya right next to her, who had a pillow in her lap as she tried to tame her curly mane. Zoey and Marisa had been having a conference over which quiz to choose from the magazine they were leaning over, while Olivia painted Claudia’s fingers a light blue and Sam was lying back on a pillow staring at the ceiling. She sat up on her elbows to hear what Zoey had to say, an unamused look on her face. God, Betty loved these girls.

“Janiya.” Zoey continued. “Are you ready to find out what kind of flirt you are?”

“I don’t flirt.” Janiya said, finally successfully pulling all her hair into a high bun on her head.

“Everyone flirts.” Zoey waved her hand as if Janiya was obviously wrong. “First question.”

Betty had been here before. She knew that Janiya would take the quiz despite how silly she thought it was, because as much as the young girl didn’t want to admit it, she thought it was a little bit fun. Betty knew this because she was the same way when she was younger.

“What is your ideal first date spot? A. A party. B. An amusement park or C. A coffee shop.”

“A coffee shop I guess.”

Zoey pulled out her pink pen and made a big deal of circling the answer before moving on to the next question. Betty tried not to laugh.

“What look would make you feel most confident on a first date? A spritz of your favorite perfume. A bold red lip. Or a cool leather jacket.”

“I literally don’t own any of those things.”

“You’d look good with a red lip, I bet.” Olivia inserted.

“Yeah, a cool lip color will always make you feel awesome.” Sam chimed in.

“Sure, a bold lip.” Janiya conceded.

“How would your friends describe you? Oooh this one for us.” Zoey wiggled her eyebrows. “Hilarious, thoughtful or adventurous?”

“Obviously thoughtful.” Marisa offered, and everyone else nodded.

“Okay, question number four. How comfortable are you with flirting?”

“Is there one for not at all?” Janiya half joked.

“The closest to that would be ‘not very- it makes you nervous.’” Marisa answered, reading over Zoey’s shoulder. 

“That one then.”

“In your worst nightmares, how does your flirting go wrong? You freeze up and don’t know what to say to your crush. Your crush doesn’t realize you’re interested. Or you get rejected.”

“Get rejected.” Janiya answered easily. 

Betty understood this. Rejection was the biggest reason not to make a move with someone. Not that Betty had much experience. Her mind drifted as the girls continued the quiz. She’d gone on a few dates with Trey Brown her sophomore year of high school. They’d even made out in the back of his truck a few times, but she never felt right with him. He was a nice enough guy, but there was just something that wasn’t quite right. 

She hadn’t really dated so far in college, but her freshman year, she’d been out at a party with Cheryl and Veronica, who she was lucky enough to still live near in college. She had been told one too many times that she wasn’t on the life track her mom wanted for her, which resulted in her having one too many drinks and making a bad decision. The guy she’d lost her virginity to was a random boy in her Intro to Science course who she’d never talked to afterwards, because she truly had no desire to pursue something with a frat boy who was busy pursuing a professional football career. Betty still didn’t know what her type was, but she knew it wasn’t that. Other than that, she hadn’t really put herself out there with any guys, and anytime someone had asked her out, she’d politely declined. It always felt like something was missing. 

“Last question.” Zoey said, pulling Betty’s focus back to the conversation. “How would you describe your crush? Goofy, friendly and caring. Smart, sweet and just a little bit nerdy. Popular, outgoing and fun.”

Betty saw the gears in Janiya’s head working. “Smart, sweet and just a little bit nerdy.”

Betty didn’t know if it meant anything, but that did seem to be Caleb’s vibe. She would report this to Jughead tomorrow morning. She wondered if this would be the kind of intel he wanted and imagined him goofily saluting her when she gave him the news. This made her smile.

Zoey and Marisa looked over the quiz and added up the points quickly before Zoey dramatically cleared her throat. “The results are in. Hitting on your crush is kind of daunting, so you take a slightly more subtle approach: just being your awesome self and dropping tiny hints that you like them. Your natural personality shines through and that's all you need.”

Betty thought this was probably actually some solid advice, even if it was from Seventeen magazine. She’d have to keep it in mind. Not that she had a crush on anyone anyway.

 


	7. Capture the Flag

One of Betty’s favorite camp traditions came on Friday night. Every year, the older kids would be excused from curfew to play Capture the Flag. Their bunk counselors would get to join them in the game, so this year, Betty, Jughead, Cheryl, Toni, Sweet Pea and Kevin would be playing with them. Veronica and Archie had gotten permission to join them from Jamie. This would be their last year getting to be a part of this. As Betty walked to the patch of forest that they used, she felt a pang in her heart, knowing that this time next year, she’d be far away from here.

The forest was set up perfectly for their game. There was a river on one end, a thin stream near the center, and a small patch of field on the other. The stream worked as a perfect dividing line: there were certain spots that were easier to cross, and it split the playing field equally in half. 

The river and the field cut off the backs of each teams area. It was the ideal situation for a game like this. The teams for this event weren’t boy versus girl or 5th grade versus 4th grade. One student from the 5th grade girls and one from the 5th grade boys would be chosen as the captain of their team. They’d choose who they wanted, and each player after that would choose the next person and so on and so forth until both teams were full up.

This year, Olivia was one of the captains, and a boy named Duke was the other. Betty had seen them talking to each other at the campfire, and she had a feeling they’d already brokered deals on some of their team members. Betty knew Olivia would fight to have her and Veronica on her team. Over the years, she’d played both with and against her best friend, and she loved the game either way.

As the boys walked up, Kevin shot Betty a smile. “You ready for this?” He asked, coming to stand next to her. “Our final Capture the Flag.”

“May the odds be ever in your favor,” Betty joked as Jughead and Veronica walked over.

“Our little Olivia is a team captain.” Veronica said with a mix of sadness and proudness in her voice. “I still remember her first words.”

“You are such a drama queen.” Betty laughed.

“Alright everyone line up!” Olivia yelled from a few feet away, and they all followed suit. A few 4th grade boys continued talking, only to get a shout from Sam. “You heard her! Shut your mouths!” They looked genuinely scared.

“Alright.” Duke spoke from his place next to Olivia. “We flipped a coin and Olivia is going to be starting.” He looked at Olivia and they gave each other a nod and stepped apart from each other.

“Sam.” Olivia pointed, and not a soul in the crowd was surprised. Of course she was going to pick her best friend first.

“Caleb.” Duke continued.

Betty looked at Sam, knowing she’d waste no time finishing her group with Betty, Veronica, Cheryl and as many of the girls in their cabin as possible.

But when Sam opened her mouth, it wasn’t Bettys name that she said.

“Jughead.”

Betty raised her eyebrows and made eye contact with Veronica, who did the same. This was out of left field. As Jughead was walking up, she saw Olivia sneakily glance at Duke and smile.

What were they doing?

“Kevin.” Caleb said. Sam was whispering something in Jughead’s ear. They were up to something, but Betty couldn’t figure out what it was.

As Sam moved away, Jughead smiled and said “Betty.”

Why hadn’t they just picked Betty in the first place? Why pick Jughead?

As Betty walked over to join her group, Jughead pushed up the sleeves of his grey quarter-length shirt like he was getting ready for battle. Betty stood next to him and turned to face the rest of the group. She chose Cheryl for their team, since Dukes team took Veronica before she could. From there, they ended up adding Marisa, Sweet Pea, 4 additional 4th graders and 4 of the 5th grade boys. Betty smoothed down her black baby tee. It was one of the only times she’d wear a dark color like this, and it still had pink and green flower detailing along the neck and shoulders, but she knew she’d need to be able to go as incognito as possible to win the game. She’d worn dark jeans and the darkest pair of shoes that she had: a forest green pair of keds.

“Okay,” Olivia said, grabbing the attention of everyone. “Let’s go over rules. There will be 3 flags on each side to be hidden and then retrieved by the opposing team. You can strategize however you’d like. You need to choose a jail for your teams side. 5 minute strategy session starts now.”

The groups each immediately turned to whisper to each other. 

“We need searchers, and guards. We also should consider having someone create a distraction so that others can cross the stream undetected.” Sam started.

“I’d love to create a distraction.” Cheryl smiled. “Chaos is my specialty.”

“Ms. Betty is the best at sneakily entering the other teams borders.” Olivia added.

Jughead snorted at this. “That was before I got here.”

Betty raised her eyebrows at him. “We’ll see about that.”

“Channel that competitive energy into working together to overtake the other team.” Sam said, as if she was the sane adult in the situation talking to two children. 

“So Ms. Betty and Mr. Jughead, you guys will infiltrate enemy territory from a less used angle. Ms. Cheryl will distract down at the other end of the stream while we try to get as many people across as we can. Sam and I will be searchers. What do you want to be Marisa?” Olivia went on like this, assigning jobs as necessary and taking a team vote on where the jail should be located. She was turning into a real leader, Betty noted with pride.

“So the plan is, Ms. Betty and Mr. Jughead wait for ten minutes before crossing the line. In the meantime, the rest of our searchers try to cross the line as inconspicuously as possible except for Cheryl, Sam and Marisa. When the time comes, Cheryl will approach the guards at the center of the stream on the other side and create a huge distraction. Marisa will then run across the stream a few feet down. She will pretend to actually try to cross without getting caught when actually she is a decoy. No one will know that Betty and Jughead are crossing or that Sam, our quickest runner is crossing as well. Got it?”

The group nodded, and everyone put their hands in the middle after Olivia. “Blue Team on three!”

Once the cheer was done, they turned back to eye their opponents. 

“The Gold Team jail will be the blackberry bush in the center of our territory.” Duke announced. Everyone knew which berry bush he meant. They’d stop and eaten from it on their hike only a few days ago. It was one of the only sources of edible berries on the camp grounds. 

Olivia announced that her teams jail would be pile of twigs on his side of the stream, a classic choice for the Blue Team.

Eyes were closed, flags were hidden and the game began.

As Betty and Jughead walked back into the forest as to not be seen walking along the stream, they were quiet. They didn’t speak until they’d almost reached their destination. Betty knew exactly where she was as she stopped behind a tree, almost there, but not to be rushed. Timing was key in this game.

“So how did you get this reputation as the best undercover spy?” Jughead whispered.

Betty blushed. “I’m not sure how it’s lasted this long but when I was in 4th grade, my first time playing, Veronica and I went off on our own and snuck across the border undetected. We managed to find two out of the three flags. She’ll be working for her team the same way we’re working for ours. no matter who’s team we are on, we both manage to be an integral part of finding at least one of the flags. Maybe it’s luck.” 

“Or maybe it’s because you’re a badass.” 

Betty looked up at Jughead in surprise to see that he was staring intently at a squirrel in the tree in front of them. 

“We should move farther down.” Betty whispered.

“I’m following your lead.” 

She’d never thought those words would come out of Jughead Jones’ mouth. But I guess a lot of her old assumptions were being broken. The old normal was shattered and as much as it scared her to admit it, she was loving the new normal. And it just kept getting more interesting. As Betty darted to the next tree and gestured back for Jughead to follow, she wondered which expectation of hers he’d shatter next. 

 

* * * * *

 

Betty had used many different strategies over the years to get to the other side and find the flag. Sometimes she depended on Cheryl to distract and get her across. Sometimes she waited until the other team dispersed and crossed right over the center log that laid over the stream.

But that first time she played, she’d ended up on the very edge of her territory, with no one guarding it. This was likely because it was the hardest spot to cross. There were no rocks to step on or tree limbs laying across. It was the widest part of the stream, about 5 feet total. No one expected anyone to try to brave that, but she and Veronica had jumped across. 

Betty smiled at this now, and made her way back to that same spot. First time meets last time. It felt right. Betty knew Veronica had come up with strategies that she liked better over the years, so there was no chance of running into her here. And they’d never shared with anyone how they’d crossed all those years ago, so no copycats would be showing up. 

A little ways away from the jumping point, there was a large pine tree. Sometimes people used trees to look out over the rest of the forest, into the patches between leaves and branches, and see what they might be up against. Betty gestured for Jughead to climb up with her. It would be a few more minutes until Cheryl staged her rebellion down the stream. They had time for a little bit of recon. 

Betty looked out from a patch in the branches and saw the moon. It was a crescent tonight, surrounded by tiny twinkling stars. An amount of stars you could never see in any big city. She heard a shout from across the stream and knew someone must have made an attack. She smiled and breathed in the scent of pine and lake and dirt that she’d come accustomed to loving. 

She’d almost forgotten that she wasn’t alone when Jughead’s voice came from the branch next to her. “It’s kind of bittersweet isn’t it?”

She looked over at him: even perched in this tree he somehow managed to be taller than her. 

“What is?”

“That next summer we’ll be in a completely different place.” He was looking out across the forest as he spoke. “That we don’t know exactly where that will be yet.” He looked over at Betty, uncertainty in his eyes. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to get weird. I just saw you looking and I thought I could tell...” he trailed off.

“You were right.” She admitted. “I have no idea what I’m doing. And everyone else seems to have it all figured out already.”

“Not me.” Jughead cleared his throat and looked back at the sky. “I’m in film school because I love it, not because I stand a chance of actually getting a job.”

“You’ll get a job.” She responded with no hesitation. “You’re one of the smartest people that I know.”

“I could say the same to you.” Jughead said earnestly.

Betty thought for a moment before she spoke. “Veronica has a job lined up already. This place she interned at is opening a new spot up in New Orleans. They gave her an offer after only having her around as an intern for one semester and now she's going to be moving to Louisiana.” Betty laughed, a tinge of bitterness coming through. “I’ve never lived more than 20 miles away from her my entire life. I don’t have a clue what I’m doing.” 

Betty stopped, afraid of the words that were going to fall out of her mouth next, but they were already coming. “You know, sometimes, when I’m walking down the street, or sitting on a bench somewhere I see all these people and I make up stories about them. Like ‘that couple is on their first date. It’s going great. But he doesn’t have money to pay the check.’ Or ‘she’s a model visiting from Milan for an underground fashion show and no one knows that she’s here.’ But then I wonder, when someone sees me walking down the street, what do they make up in their minds about me? Do I look like I have no idea what I’m doing? Can they tell?” She took a deep breath as a breeze passed by. She didn’t look over at Jughead for fear of his response. “I’ve never said that out loud before.” She realized this was true as she was saying it. 

“Betty...” Jughead’s voice was almost too quiet for her to hear, and she sensed an unsteadiness in it. “There’s no way that they think that. If they did, they’d be crazy.” 

“Sure.”

Jughead opened his mouth like he was going to say something more, and then closed it. 

Betty looked at her watch. Two minutes until showtime. 

“I’m terrified that I’m going to let my father down.” Jughead said suddenly, and she when she turned to look at him, his blue eyes met hers and she could tell he was having a hard time saying this. 

“I decided to go to film school in the city. He’d worked so hard to save up to send me. My mom didn’t help one bit. He was so proud of me when we graduated. So proud when I got into school. You should hear him on the phone asking me how it’s going.” Jughead was looking at her like he had needed to say this for awhile, his eyes on hers like if he looked away, he’d stop saying it. 

“He worked so hard to help me get the money I needed to go there. All these extra shifts at the diner. And he’s so proud of me. He came to a short film showcase last year and he acted like it was the freakin Met Gala, wining and dining with these people, dropping my name. ‘Yes my son created that one. He’s a talented young man, my son. Gonna go places.’ But what if I don’t?”

“You will.” Bettys eyes were still staring right into his and she broke them away, feeling heat rise in her cheeks. 

“See how easy it is to say that to someone else?” Jughead asked, his voice a shadow of a whisper. “You need to believe it for yourself too.” 

“If only it was that easy.” Betty looked out at the moon again. “Growing up sucks.” She said the last part so quietly that she didn’t expect him to hear her, but somehow he must have, because he answered her. 

“If only you had magic glowing hair with anti aging powers.”

 

* * * * *

 

It was 20 minutes into the game. Jughead and Betty had made their way across the river and managed to find the first flag. But as soon as they’d gone for it, they’d been tagged by two boys and hauled off to jail.

They had two wardens: a fifth grader named Edwin and a fourth grader named Brooke. They were standing the required distance from the jail. Brooke was alert, still paying serious attention to what was going on around her. Edwin, on the other hand, had started writing in the dirt with a stick. He was the jailers weak spot. At least he's having fun, Betty thought.

Betty could tell that Jughead was debating whether or not he wanted to try to eat some of the berries or if he should be paying full attention to his surroundings in case someone came to tag them. She watched as he looked around and glanced back at the bush. Just as he was finally reaching for a berry, Sam came out of the bushes.

She ran for Betty first, and Betty put her hand out for Sam to slap it. The slapping sound made Brooke spin around and start towards them, but Sam was fast, and she’d already reached Jughead. The three of them charged ahead as Brooke yelled at Edwin to pay attention to what was going on. The distraction of him being dead weight put her too far behind them and she gave up. Betty felt bad for Edwin. His future suddenly looked grim. 

As the three of them crossed their border to safety, they exchanged high fives. 

“If only we’d gotten one of the flags out of this.” Jughead said, and with that, Sam pulled a golden flag out of her back pocket with a smile on her face. 

“But didn’t we though?”

Olivia came running up behind them and screamed. “One point for the Blue Team!” 

They heard an audible groan from the other side of the stream, but this was where the game would really start. The pressure was on, and soon points were multiplying. 

 

Veronica got the first flag for the Gold Team, and she and Betty exchanged a smile over the divide.

 

On the way back to their jumping point, Betty and Jughead managed to tag Zoey and Claudia and escort them to prison.

As they walked away, Jughead commented “I just realized that I don’t think I’ve ever heard Claudia speak.”

“She only talks when its something really important.” Betty answered.

 

Some boys from the Gold Team managed to snag another flag around the 45 minute mark.

Five minutes later, Marisa had gotten the second flag for the Blue Team.

 

It was a tie game, and Betty and Jughead finally managed to grab the third flag for their team. The person who was supposed to be guarding it had wandered off in an attempt to catch a firefly.

 

They made the leap back across the stream and were stopped for a second to catch their breath behind a tree when Betty suddenly heard a twig snap behind her. Jughead’s head snapped up, but Betty touched his arm and put her finger to her lips. She peeked around the tree to see none other than Caleb and Janiya. They had a blue flag, and Janiya was pointing at the big jump in front of them. Jughead moved to go after them, but Betty gripped his arm tight. “Stop.” She whispered. “It’s their turn to be legends.” 

Betty heard Marisa’s voice coming from several yards behind Janiya and Caleb. They turned quickly to look back at the fast approaching enemy. And then Janiya adjusted her glasses on her face and leapt into the air, crossing her finish line. 

As Marisa ran up, Janiya shouted “Gold Team for the Win!” Betty waited a few extra seconds before revealing herself. She’d say that she must have crossed the stream right after Janiya had. That she was right about to make the leap when she heard the yell that the Gold Team had already won.

She looked over at Jughead and saw him smiling, watching Janiya and Calebs teammates surround them, chanting their names.

A thought came into Bettys mind. _He looks cute when he smiles._ She had never noticed this before, or maybe she had, but she’d never admit it, even to herself. Here this boy was, smiling as he lost- something she never thought she’d see him do. And while the smile on his lips was amazing, it was the smile in those deep blue eyes that made her look away as fast as she could. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long for me to get the next chapter out. I was on vacation Thurs-Mon (amazing vacation if anyones wondering) but I was busy all day every day doing things so I didn't get much time to write. 
> 
> Another chapter will be out in a couple of days. Hope you like this one!
> 
> xx Allison


	8. Day Off

When Betty woke up on Saturday morning, she remembered the way Jughead had smiled the night before. She decided to push any and all thoughts like that out of her brain. It was a fluke, she decided. And she walked her girls to the bathroom to shower and get ready for the day.

Saturday had a different schedule than the rest of the camp days. Breakfast wasn’t served until 10, so it left a bit of time to sleep in. And as of 3 PM, half of the counselors had the rest of the day off. A group of presenters from the Audubon center would be there to do an animal presentation and meet and greet with all the kids and then the counselors would be due back at 10 PM for a late curfew. The next day, the other half of the counselors would have off and it would be a beach day with the kids for Betty and her friends.

At 4 PM, Betty, Veronica, Cheryl and Toni went into the bathroom together to get ready for the night. They were all going out to a mini golf place and then to a karaoke bar. They did their hair and make up by the sink while telling stories about the kids. One of Veronicas kindergartners had dropped the F bomb the day before. Toni had broken up an argument between two 4th graders over who was a worse dodgeball player. Everyone got dressed up as if it was a real night out and not one that required them back by 10 PM sharp.

“What do you think?” Veronica asked, spinning around to show off her final product. She had lightly curled her hair and done a smokey eye. Her dress was black, with a cinched waist lined with silver. Her boots were velvet and black with a chunky heel and silver flowers spattered across them. She looked drop dead gorgeous, as usual.

“Approved.” Cheryl nodded, as she finished re-applying her signature red lip. She had a forest green matching crop top and skirt on, her red hair down in soft curls. She’d helped Toni put some braids in her pink hair and choose her fishnet tights, which she’d paired with a denim skirt and a simple red tank top. All of Betty’s friends looked beautiful, and Betty felt pretty damn good herself. She’d decided to wear her hair down and chosen an outfit of a black cord skirt and a plain white teeshirt. Veronica had done her eye makeup, a natural look with a pop of sparkle on the corners of her eyes. 

She felt comfortable and pretty and ready to have a night out away from the kids. She slid a pair of black booties on her feet and smiled at her reflection in the mirror. That feeling was pumping strong in her chest- something exciting was on the horizon, the whole world was in front of them for the taking. It was a summer night at its best, and as the girls left the bathrooms and made their way to the parking lot where they’d meet the boys, the sun was fading in the sky, but the night was only just beginning.

* * * * *

“I’m not sure if you remember this, but I’m a bit of a mini golf champion.” Jughead commented as he and Betty approached the golf clubs. Everyone else was distracted by the arcade off the course, but Betty hadn’t been able to wait to challenge her long term rival to a game of mini golf. 

“Oh, I remember.” Betty replied, picking out a clean white golf club and pink ball. At Cheryls 8th birthday party, back when you had to invite everyone in your class, so Jughead was still showing up despite the girls already having a vendetta against him, Cheryl and her brother Jason had had their party at a fancy mini golf place-castle themed of course. Jughead had challenged Betty that he’d beat her in the game and she’d told him that he was ‘just a dumb boy’ and then proceeded to lose terribly. When she lost, Betty put on a brave face, but all of the boys at the party were high-fiving Jughead and cheering for him, and all of her friends were distracted by the bounce house and didn’t know what was happening. She’d stuck her tongue out at him and told him it didn’t matter, that she’d beat him next time. 

“I also seem to remember making you a promise that I’d beat you the next time we mini golfed together.”

Jughead looked surprised that she had remembered this.

“Is that why you rushed me over here while everyone else stocked up on game tokens?”

“It may have something to do with it.” Betty said cooly as they walked up to the start of the course.

“Then I think we should make this interesting.” There was that smirk. “How about this? Winner chooses loser’s karaoke song tonight.” 

“You’re on.” Betty placed her pink ball on the starting mark with a smile.

* * * * *

As they started to make their way through the course, Betty saw the rest of their friends starting a game a few holes behind them. Eventually she and Jughead would just slow down and let them catch up, but for now, it was just them, keeping score like their lives depended on it.

“So.” Jughead commented as Betty fished her ball out of the fourth hole. “Hair down tonight, I see.”

Betty raised her eyebrows. “Is that supposed to be some kind of dig?”

“No. Just an observation.” He shrugged and walked past her to the next hole. “It looks nice.” He threw this back over his shoulder like it didn’t mean anything. For some reason, to Betty, it did.

“I see you ditched the flannel tonight.” Betty countered. He was wearing a simple black teeshirt. 

“Yeah. Was that a bad decision?”

Betty scanned him from top to bottom. In addition to the black tee, he had on dark wash jeans and black converse high tops. The hair peeking out of his beanie was at maximum swoop.

“It’s very Danny Zuko.” She decided.

This got an unexpected response from Jughead. He placed his hand on his heart and closed his eyes. 

“That is the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”

“Well then I take it back.” Betty teased.

“Nope. Too late. You already said it.”

“I’m not sure it’s entirely a compliment. Danny Zuko is kind of a dick for a lot of that show.”

It had been the spring musical their junior year of high school. Betty had worked on costumes for it because Veronica was playing Rizzo and she wanted to be supportive. Her best friend had, of course, knocked it out of the park. Betty didn’t remember anything about Jughead from the time of that show.

“Maybe. But the show itself is a classic.”

“Oh really?” Betty prodded as she focused her attention on getting her pink ball across a small bridge without it falling off into the water.

“Two people from two different worlds falling in love is like a theatre staple. Romeo and Juliet. West Side Story.”

“I didn’t realize you were a theatre geek.” Betty teased as she followed her ball over the bridge.

“I’m not." Jughead said, giving his ball a slight tap and following in Bettys footsteps. "Everyone on this planet knows the words to You’re the One That I Want. I don't make the rules.”

“You know all the words to You’re the One That I Want?”

“Don’t you?” 

As they paused and waited for everyone else to catch up with them, Betty filed this information away. She had a feeling that it might come in handy.

The closer they got to the end of the game, the more Betty and Jughead tried to throw each other off balance. Betty was in the lead at Hole 15, and Jughead let out a loud but “casual” whistle just as she was about to nudge her ball.

At Hole 17, Betty started singing “Call Me Maybe” every time it was Jughead’s turn. And the trash talk was a whole other story. Back at the 10th hole, their previous casual conversation had completely shut down. 

“You tried.” Betty commented, as Jughead had barely missed dunking his ball. 

“We can’t all be winners.” Jughead shrugged at Betty when her ball fell into the water.

“I know it’s hard, but try to actually hit the ball.” Betty taunted.

“Do you want me to show you how to hold the club?” Jughead heckled.

As they reached the last hole, Veronica said “You two go first. I want this trip back to high school to be over.”

“Ladies first.” Jughead’s smirk was in full force as Betty walked up to hit her ball. She was winning by one point. The final hole was uphill, then off to the left down the other side through a small tunnel. Betty first focused on getting her ball up the hill, which she luckily was able to do in one go.

“Are you nervous yet?” She shot back at Jughead. “You should be.”

He successfully got his ball up the hill on his first try as well. Betty told herself that as long as he didn’t catch up with her and close that one point gap, she could win. 

Her ball was close to the tunnel, so she lightly hit the small pink circle towards it. It stopped near the entrance but didn’t go through. Jughead managed to get his through the tunnel on his first shot. So much for having a lead.

2 turns later and they were still neck and neck. If Betty could get her ball in on this last try, she would win. She looked at Jughead, waiting for a snarky comment, but he just stared at her with a slight smile.

“Oh just hit the fuckin ball already!” Sweet Pea suddenly shouted, breaking the silence.

Everyone laughed for a moment, and when it died down she went for it and gave her ball a light tap. It went right into the hole and suddenly Betty was wrapped in Veronica and Cheryl's arms as they jumped up and down and cheered. 

“Thats my girl!” Veronica screamed on left side, and Betty could hear loud applause from Toni on her right, but she pulled away and looked over at Jughead. He was standing there giving her a slow clap.

“I guess we’re even. The great mini golf war is over.” Betty said.

“I guess so.” He answered, and gave her a smile, but there was something missing in it that she couldn’t quite place.

* * * * *

They got to the karaoke bar at 8, and there was already a crowd forming inside. Cheryl placed an order for cheese fries for everyone to share while Veronica and Betty went to add their names to the performance list. 

“You have an idea for Jughead?” Veronica asked as she put her own name down.

Jughead hadn’t said much since they left mini golf and walked the two blocks to the bar. No one was drinking tonight, out of respect for their chaperoning duties when they got back for curfew. Betty could see Jughead and Sweet Pea standing by the bar, ordering pitchers of soda and lemonade for everyone. They looked like they were engaged in some kind of deep conversation. It was like something had switched in Jughead since they hit that last hole, and Betty wanted to know what it was.

“I have the perfect song.” Betty answered Veronica. “But it’s going to mean me going up too.”

“This I gotta see.” Veronica raised her eyebrows. “A duet between you and Jughead Jones?”

“Yeah. If he’ll still do it.” Jughead and Sweet Pea were still engaged in whatever conversation they were having.

Veronica looked over at them and shook her head. “He’s probably just mad he lost, B. He’s still got to keep up his end of the bet.”

Betty made her way over as Jughead set the lemonade pitcher on their table.

“So what song am I singing tonight?” Jughead smiled at her, as if nothing had happened. As if he hadn’t been quietly brooding for the last 20 minutes. Betty decided not to push it.

“You’ll find out when you get up there.”

“You’re not even going to give me prep time?” Jughead said in mock shock.

“That wasn’t part of the deal.”

“Touche.”

The next half an hour went by in a flash. Toni and Betty talked about the latest Marvel movie, Cheryl told everyone a story about a party they’d been to a few weeks back, Veronica got up onstage and sang an old Paramore song, to the excitement of everyone at the table, and suddenly, Betty heard her name being called with Jughead’s to come to the stage.

Jughead gave her a confused look. “Did you sign us up for a duet?”

“Maybe.” 

“What song?” He asked again, as they climbed onto the stage.

“A song that everyone knows the words to.” 

His face changed from confusion to surprise to awe. “You didn’t.”

Betty gave him a mischievous smile and grabbed one of the microphones. “Hi guys. We’re going to be singing You’re The One That I Want from Grease.”

As the music started to play, Jughead just shook his head at her and laughed. She took a few steps away from him. If she was going to do this she was going all in. She shook her hair and pursed her lips and as she looked at Jughead and he began to sing, there was that smile again. Not just on his lips, but in his eyes as he sang off key to the first verse of the song.

Betty had been avoiding thoughts of that smile all day long. She’d done a good job so far, a solid 12 hours of success. But as they sang the chorus together and attempted to do the movie choreography, she saw that smile again, on this giant goof in front of her, this version of Jughead Jones that she’d never seen before but had become accustomed to seeing every single day, she realized that she didn’t want to avoid that smile at all. She wanted to keep staring at those blue eyes as he laughed while she strutted her stuff, clumsy and off key herself. 

Betty wanted that smile to always be directed towards her. 

In other words, she thought as the bar applauded, she was in deep shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! This chapter is kind of short because I've been having some writers block the last few days and just haven't been feeling a lot of what I wrote.
> 
> I hope you like it nonetheless!
> 
> xx Allison


	9. Chocolate

The next day at swim time, Betty felt like she had been running a marathon all morning. She’d told herself that she was going to act normal, but the idea that she had feelings for Jughead Jones was too much for her to wrap her head around. Jughead Jones, the same boy who had destroyed her second grade science project and still to this day never apologized? Jughead Jones, who she had only ever loathed? Jughead Jones, who loathed her right back? It wasn’t right, and having this day of swimming had only made it worse.

Normally at the lake, only the kids got in the water. All the counselors had their suits and usually had them on under their clothes, but they generally didn’t get in. Today was different, since the groups were combined. Most of the little ones were doing some special crafts with Veronica and Archie at one of the picnic tables. Cheryl, Toni and Kevin were engaged in a game of volleyball with a solid chunk of the kids at the courts a short walk away. Betty could see them but she didn’t want to get up and walk over. She had settled herself in on a towel between Janiya and Zoey after what she was now referring to (in her head alone) as the “Swimsuit Debacle.” 

This wasn’t a normal day at the lake. Everyone had the intention of getting into the water at some point, because a.) they were going to be there all day but more importantly b.) it was 90 degrees outside. So Betty had smiled to herself this morning as she put on her yellow bikini with the cute tie up straps and the little retro white flowers all over. She liked the lake and she had only gotten to use the new swimsuit a few times this summer. She walked over to the beach with her group feeling like sunshine itself. 

Then she got to the water. She was putting her stuff down and getting ready to take her white tank top off and jump in when she saw Jughead walking up with his group. She’d forgotten that boys wore swimsuits too. And that when they did, it meant not wearing a shirt. He didn’t even have his beanie on, and he hadn’t been lying when he said he had messy hair. But it looked cute. _Shit. It looked cute._  

Betty made eye contact with him and realized that she had been staring with her hands holding the bottom of her tank top. She quickly tried to pull it over her head as to not look like a complete idiot and managed to get it stuck for just a second too long. Her cheeks went beet red as she managed to get it off and she didn’t risk taking a glance to see his reaction. Instead, she sat down on her towel and tried to pretend it had never happened.

But Jughead obviously hadn’t known that this was her objective, and he had come over and smiled at her.

“Shirts are hard,” he teased.

“Obviously.” She said, pointing at his bare chest. “You must have forgotten how they worked yourself.”

“It’s 90 degrees.” He shrugged.

“Finally hot enough to take off the beanie?”

He looked instantly uncomfortable. “My hair was rioting.” He said, running his hands through his dark locks. “I didn’t want to get heat stroke.” 

And then Caleb and Duke had called him out into the water and he’d given her a lazy half smile before running off to them. This was twenty minutes ago, and Betty was still replaying it in her mind and going over the millions of better ways it could have gone.

As she let her eyes drift over to him out in the water now, she had a thought.

“Hey Zoey?”

“Hey what?” The girl replied, from yet another magazine. She’d brought a whole bag full of them to the beach today. Betty was still amazed that she had so many stockpiled.

“Do you have a quiz in there to tell you if someone likes you?”

Zoey raised her eyebrows and Betty put up a hand.

“Before you start, it’s not for me. It’s for a friend.”

She swore she heard Janiya snort from her other side, but when she looked, the girl was just reading her book contently. 

“I have one. And it’s really none of my business what you want it for. I’m only here to help.” Zoey said this in her most professional voice and quickly sifted through her bag of magazines to find the one she was looking for.

“Alright." the girl said, putting her sunglasses on her head. "Question one. Have you ever felt like he was flirting with you?”

Oh god, Betty thought. How do you even know if someone’s flirting with you?

“It’s in the way they say things.” She heard Zoey answer. She hadn’t realized that she’d asked the question out loud.

“I really don’t know.” Betty answered honestly. 

“I’m going to say no then. If we don’t know for sure.” Zoey circled the answer in purple pen. Betty noticed that the answers had already been previously circled, once in pink and another time in turquoise. 

“Does he have real conversations with you and try to get to know you beyond face value?”

Betty thought about Capture the Flag and their conversation up in the tree. And every time they’d met up at Pops for ice cream. Jughead was always talking to her about everything under the sun. Not only did he ask her questions that she somehow felt comfortable answering, he seemed to trust her unquestionably with his own truths.

“Yes.” She replied. This was an easy answer.

“Does he go out of his way to be around you?”

Well, he’d come over here just now to say hello when he got to the beach. But so had Kevin when he arrived and that definitely wasn’t flirting. Jughead was around her a lot, she realized, but it was hard to say if it was by choice since they worked together most of the day and had to be together regardless.

“I don’t think so.” Betty answered uncertainly.

“You can’t keep saying you don’t know.” Janiya commented from behind her hardcover copy of Paper Towns. “Then the quiz won’t work.”

“I’m sorry.” Zoey leaned over to look at her friend. “But last I checked you didn’t believe in these quizzes anyway."

Janiya didn’t move her eyes from her book. “All I’m saying is if we’re working under the premise that these things are legitimate, then they need to be taken legitimately.” 

Zoey rolled her eyes and adjusted the giant sunglasses perched on her head. “Does he find excuses to touch you?” She continued as if nothing had happened.

“No.” Jughead never really touched her, they mostly kept their hands to themselves. Was that a bad sign?

“Have you ever caught him looking at you when he didn’t think you were looking?” Betty thought back to the night of the movie. She had turned around in Pops to see him staring at her, with that look of admiration. 

“Yes.” She couldn’t help but smile as she said it.

“Does he tease you?”

Betty couldn’t help it, she burst into laughter.

“Yes. A thousand times yes.”

Zoey quickly calculated the results of the quiz. Betty was pretty sure any quiz that only had six questions didn’t hold much truth but she was still wondering what the results would be.

“So if I calculate your ‘I don’t knows’ as ‘no’ because really we don’t have the evidence then…its a tie. 50/50, could go either way.” Zoey wrote a purple question mark at the bottom of the page. She made the period a heart and then dropped the pen with a sigh. “I’m sorry Ms. Betty.”

“That’s okay.” Betty said, looking out at Jughead in the water. He was tossing a ball back and forth with some of the boys. His hair had gotten wet and was even more of a mess than before, but somehow, she liked it even more.

“These quizzes don’t actually mean anything though.” Zoey said suddenly.

Betty raised her eyebrows and Janiya slammed her book down and looked at Zoey pointedly.

“Did those words seriously just come out of your mouth?” Janiya demanded incredulously.

Zoey just shrugged. “They’re fun. And it’s cool to believe in stuff sometimes. But ultimately you’ll never know the truth about anything until you actually go for it and find out. You’re a strong independent woman. And besides, if it turns out some boy doesn’t like you then he was an idiot anyway.”

“Who gave you the right to get so grown up?” Betty laughed.

Zoey smiled as she pulled her sunglasses over her eyes and stretched out on her back.

“I learned from the best.”

* * * * *

As Betty walked to Pops after dinner, she thought about what Zoey had said. She’d never know until she tried. But was whatever she was feeling for Jughead worth risking an awkward rest of camp? She saw him waiting for her outside the door, pushing up the sleeves on his gray flannel. He was fully clothed now, but Betty had started to find his daily attire charming. Even the beanie that was back on his head.

He looked up and smiled when he saw her approaching.

“Hey Betts.”

Her heart fluttered a little bit in her chest. Despite the nickname on her bracelet, this was the first time he’d actually used it.

“Hi Jug.” She answered, and his smile got bigger. 

_Please stop smiling,_ Betty’s head said. _I can’t take it._

_Please keep smiling,_ her heart argued. _It’s such a good look._

“What flavor is Ms. Betty Cooper getting today?” Jughead asked as they walked into the shop. 

“I was thinking maybe chocolate.” The kind he’d been eating the first day of camp. 

“Maybe I should get vanilla then.” He said, and she was surprised that he’d made the connection. “What’s your second favorite flavor?”

“Strawberry.” Betty said as Pop approached the counter to take their order.

“Two scoops of vanilla and strawberry it is then.” Jughead cheerily told Pop. 

After they got their ice cream, they made their way over to what had become their usual spot.

“So are you ready for my team to kick your ass this Friday?” Jughead said as they settled in.

Around 3:00, Jamie had shown up for an impromptu counselor meeting. She’d handed everyone the new weekly schedule. A lot of things were the same, but new special activities had popped up for their second week. Most importantly, the final day’s competition.

In addition to one hour of their intramural sports block turning into prep for the end of week field day, the page read:

> Special Weekly Events:
> 
> Monday: Silly Song Night at Campfire
> 
> Tuesday: Field Trip to Audobon at 9 AM
> 
> Wednesday: Movie Night at 8 PM
> 
> Friday: Camp Field Day Competition
> 
> ->Prep Time: 9-10:30
> 
> ->Event: 1-4
> 
> ->Final Campfire: 8 PM
> 
> Saturday: 8 AM Student Pick Up
> 
>  

After that, the counselors would depart on their traditional overnight camping trip at the top of the hiking path. 

Camp was coming to an end. The world of adult life loomed over Betty’s head like a storm cloud. But she still had a week left, and she didn’t intend to waste it.

“I think you got that mixed up.” She responded. “It’s my team that’s going to kick your ass.”

“We’ll see about that.” He was already a third of the way through his cone. Betty would never get over how quickly this boy ate.

“It’s weird, right?” He continued, but she didn’t know what he was referring to.

“What is?”

“Looking at the schedule. Realizing that in a week this is all over and we go back to real world with all its scary decisions.”

It was like he had read her mind.

“Are you going back to the city right away?” she took a lick of her cone as she waited for his answer.

“Pretty much. Got a new apartment set up with Sweet Pea. Our lease starts a week from Saturday.”

Betty nodded. “Our sublet is leaving this Friday so when we get back on Monday, they’ll be gone. And life will continue on as if none of this ever happened.”

“Well thats a depressing way of looking at it.” He said with a frown. “It still happened. It’s still a bunch of amazing memories.”

“I guess.”

“Hey. No." he turned to face her dead on. "I will not have you being sad right now. Tell me your greatest hits from this summer. The stuff you’ll remember years from now. I know you have some.”

“Well after this week I’ll have my last movie night with Veronica. That I’ll remember.” she said, a tone of sadness still laced in her voice.

“How about debate club? Everyone loves debate club.”

This made Betty smile. Cheryl was crushing all of them but it was undeniably fun having everyone together goofing off and cheering and laughing. 

“Campfires.” She said. “Every one of them. My sleepover with the girls in my bunk, up late hearing them talk about boys and school and hopes and dreams. Did you know that Claudia wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up?”

“I didn’t. I’ve still never heard her speak.”

Betty laughed.

“What do you wanna be when you grow up?” Jughead asked, half teasing.

Betty thought about it for a second. “I guess I really just want to be happy.”

Jughead nodded. She knew he understood. 

“It’s figuring out how to do that that’s the problem.” She said quietly.

“You’ll figure it out. We both will.” 

They were quiet for a moment as they both finished their cones. Somehow over the summer, they’d fallen into comfortable silence with each other. They could sit together and Betty didn’t feel like she had to keep the conversation going. She only had that with a few people in this world. Who would have thought that Jughead Jones would be one of them?

“So you still haven’t given me that challenge that I owe you.” Jughead knocked his arm into hers playfully as he said this and her brain flashed back to earlier that day. _Does he find excuses to touch you?_

“I haven’t found the right opportunity. It has to be something really good.” She stood up and threw her napkin away and looked up at the sun fading in the sky. 

As Jughead threw his napkin away too, Betty realized something.

“Hey. I told you my greatest hits of the summer, but you didn’t tell me yours.”

She felt a breeze tousle her hair and closed her eyes for a few seconds. She felt what was left of the sun hit her face and smiled to herself. When she opened her eyes she saw him staring at her. She couldn’t figure out the look on his face, but he caught her eyes and held her gaze as he spoke.

“Probably seeing you again and getting to have ice cream with you every day.” He said it quietly, like he was afraid she might hear him, even though he was saying it directly to her. _Have you ever felt like he was flirting with you?_

She stared at him, not sure how to respond, but not wanting to break the moment. He took a slow step closer to her and her heart thumped in her chest. _Does he go out of his way to be around you?_ He’d given her this challenge. He’d wanted to see her everyday. 

She cleared her throat and her voice wavered. “How’d you like the vanilla?”

“Its secretly my favorite.” His eyes were fixed on hers and she felt a question in them. Could it be the same question she had been afraid to ask herself?

She took a tentative step closer to him so that they were only inches apart.

Her eyes fell to his lips involuntarily and she saw them quirk into a small smile. She looked back up at his blue eyes and couldn’t believe what was happening.

She wasn’t sure he could even hear her as she spoke. 

“I have a challenge for you.”

He kept his eyes on hers for a moment longer and then her heart was beating fast as his lips suddenly met hers. It was soft at first, unsure on both their parts, but then he brought his hand to her neck and she leaned into what she thought might be the best kiss of her life.

A few moments later, he pulled away just enough to look at her eyes and the smile that played on his lips made her catch her breath.

“Challenge accepted.” He said, and then he was kissing her again.

Betty was pretty sure the guy she liked liked her back.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the good part :)
> 
> xx Allison


	10. Silly Songs

“So spill.” Veronica leaned across the picnic table by the lake with a mischievous spark in her eyes. “How did you and tall, dark and brooding go from mortal enemies to lovers?”

Cheryl rolled her eyes from her spot next to Betty and flipped her hair over her shoulder. “I still can’t believe that we’re having this conversation.”

“Be nice.” The red heads girlfriend prodded from across the table. “People change. You would know.”

Betty tried to hide her smile at this. Cheryl had been a terror to pretty much everyone other than herself and Veronica in high school. Meeting Toni in college had created a huge shift for her. It was like that soft spot inside her that she’d only ever shown her two best friends had been opened wider and sprinkled out into the world at large- even if it was still only sprinkled sparingly. 

In any case, Cheryl had changed a lot since high school, choosing to keep her mean thoughts to herself and her friends rather than saying them to peoples faces in the heat of the moment. Toni was right, if anyone knew a thing or two about change, it was Cheryl Marjorie Blossom.

Cheryl let out a big sigh, mostly for dramatics, Betty thought. “As usual, you’re right.” She said, reaching her hand out to cover Tonis. “Continue Betty.”

As soon as had Veronica found out about what had happened between Betty and Jughead, she’d called an emergency meeting and the four of them snuck off so they could grill her on the situation. It was the hour between dinner and campfire and they were technically supposed to be aware of what their kids were doing, but the older girls were all already hanging out around the campfire, where Jamie was setting up for the night. She’d nodded at them when she saw that they were in need of girl talk and let them walk away. 

The girls were all sticky from the day and Betty’s happiness was exploding in her chest as she looked around at her best friends. Toni with two giant French braids and a Camp Clearwater baseball tee. Cheryl pretending that she didn’t want to be here but clearly interested in what was going on- you can’t fool friends of over ten years. And Veronica, looking tanned by the summer sun, on the edge of her seat, excited for her friend even before knowing the whole story. 

“Is Jughead Jones a good kisser?” Cheryl asked. “I can’t imagine that being accurate.”

“I mean, theres only been the one kiss at this point, but it was pretty damn good.” Betty couldn’t control the grin on her face and she saw Veronica mirroring it back at her. 

“I’m so happy for you B.” She squeezed Betty’s hand.

“Thanks V.”

“So what does this mean?” Toni interjected. “Now what?”

“I don’t know.” Betty said honestly. They’d shared a long kiss and then he’d taken her hand and held it all the way to the dining hall. Or at least until they were in sight of the kids. That was a reaction that no one needed. Then they’d gone off with their groups and Betty had ended up here.

“Is this going to be a real thing now?” Cheryl asked.

“Not everyone defines their relationship immediately after their first kiss.” Veronica gave her a pointed look.

Cheryl imitated her with an eye roll and a smile to Toni.“Not everyone defines their relationship immediately after their first kiss.” This had been exactly what they had done almost 3 years ago. 

“We haven’t really talked about it.” Betty said honestly.

Cheryl rephrased her question. “Do you WANT it to be a real thing?”

Betty thought about his lips on hers and the smile he gave her when he pulled away. His hand in hers as they walked, rough and warm. The way he seemed to care about what was going on in the hidden places in her mind.

“Yeah. I think I do.” She couldn’t help but smile even bigger.

“Well then it’s settled.” Cheryl announced. “Operation Find Out Exactly What Jughead Jones Wants is in full swing.” Just like that, she’d switched from questioning to fully supporting. If one of them was happy, the rest were on board. This was how it had always been. It was how she hoped it always would be.

“And how do you suggest we do that?” Betty asked Cheryl.

“Well. He first kissed you, what? An hour and a half ago?”

“Approximately.” Betty nodded.

“And since then he hasn’t really seen you. So let’s see how long it takes him to kiss you the next time he’s around you.” Cheryl said this like it was a simple, normal, foolproof plan.

“You’re ridiculous.” Toni laughed.

“You love it.” Cheryl squeezed her hand with a cool smile.

“At least all of you guys are getting some action this summer.” Veronica fake pouted.

“Oh please.” Cheryl rolled her eyes at this. “You’ve had a thing for Archie all summer and you know it. And the shmuck would be lucky to have you.” 

“Wow.” Veronica’s eyes widened. “I came out to have a good time and I honestly feel so attacked right now.”

“Shut up drama queen.” Cheryl swatted her across the table.

Suddenly Betty heard a cleared throat from behind them. Veronica jumped. When Betty turned, she saw none other than Jughead and Kevin.

Veronica let out a sigh of relief. “Oh thank god. It’s just you.” She directed her attention back to Cheryl, who was trying not to laugh. “I would have killed you.”

“So you admit to it?” Toni wiggled her eyebrows.

Jughead was looking at Betty like he hadn't heard a word they were saying.

“Hey.” Betty said quietly. 

“Hey.” He smiled at her, then glanced over at her friends.

“We know, weirdo.” Cheryl said loudly, as the girls stood up. “Don’t make it awkward.”

“In that case.” Jughead stepped forward and gave Betty a quick but sweet kiss.

Everyone was silent for a moment as he pulled away and Betty saw that Kevin’s jaw had dropped. 

“60 seconds.” Cheryl commented before walking past them towards the campfire.

Kevin looked at Betty with a look of shock and excitement. “We need to talk.” 

* * * * *

“Do you think they have a chance at beating us?” Marisa asked the next afternoon. The girls had spent the last hour working on their relay race skills for the competition on Friday. Each grade had 5 categories they’d compete in. For the fifth graders it was the relay race, two legged race, four square, chalk artistry, and dodgeball.

The four square and dodgeball competitions would be best two out of three.

They had been practicing running all morning, passing things to each other, hopping from place to place- they didn’t know yet what the exact layout of the race was but they knew from past years what kinds of things were usually included. Now they were taking a break before moving on to practicing four square. 

“The bottom line is, they’re just boys.” Sam answered. “They don’t have what it takes.”

“You know, not all boys are total monsters.” Janiya said casually between sips from her water bottle. At least, she was attempting to be casual, but it didn’t really work for her.

“Oh really?” Zoey challenged. “And who might you be talking about?”

“No one in particular.” Janiya avoided eye contact as she said this, successfully making her thought even more obvious.

“Come on Janiya.” Zoey replied. “Give it up already. We know you like Caleb.”

“I do not.”

“You know, it’s not a bad thing if you do.” Olivia pointed out. “Just because their brains develop at a slower rate than ours doesn’t mean they can’t be nice or funny.”

Janiya was quiet for a moment, playing with the cap of her bottle. Then she looked to Betty, her chocolate eyes nervous. “What do you think, Ms. Betty?”

“What do you mean?”

“Are boys worth our time? Some of them at least?” Janiya had a nervous look in her eyes. This was really weighing on her mind.

“First of all,” Betty started, “you guys know that I don’t think you’re really old enough to be dating.” They’d had that conversation a million times. It wasn’t that she thought they’d do something stupid, she just didn’t think they needed to be dealing with any potential heartbreak just yet.

She continued after they’d all nodded in understanding. “Olivia is right. They can be kind of dumb at your age.” She thought about all of her elementary school experiences with Jughead. “But they can also end up being really sweet. If you like somebody, theres nothing wrong with spending time with them. I don’t think you need to be ‘dating’ yet, but a really nice friendship with a guy is possible.” Betty considered it for a moment before continuing. “And if you get a kiss or two, I’d allow it.”

The girls giggled at this.

“I guess I kind of like someone then.” Janiya admitted.

“Someone? We’re still doing this?” Zoey sighed. “We all know you like-“

“Caleb.” Janiya finished. “I like Caleb. But only a little bit, okay? Like I like talking to him about books and I like his glasses.”

Zoey studied her for a moment before giving a short nod. “I’ll take it.”

“So we need to do some strategizing.” Olivia carefully changed the subject. “Which of us is the best in each category? That person can give the rest of us pointers.”

“Well Claudia is definitely the best at four square. She won the category for us last year and I hate playing against her because I almost always lose.” Sam gave Claudia a smile and she returned it with a nod.

“Sam is the best artist. I say for the chalk drawing, we come up with a main idea together and she can help us figure out the details and take lead on the center piece.” 

“Zoey and Marisa are both great at dodgeball.”

“Janiya is best at hopping on one foot in the relay race.”

And just like that, it was back to a strategy meeting. Betty’s thoughts were still on the conversation they’d just had. Some boys end up being pretty damn good. Eating ice cream with you and making you laugh and listening to your fears and hopes. Getting onstage with you at a karaoke bar and making fools of yourselves together.

Betty smiled, thinking that you never know at age 11 where you’ll be at age 21. Maybe Janiya would hate Caleb then, or maybe she’d never see him again after this summer. The future was wide open for them. 

_But it’s wide open for me too_ , Betty realized. _I don’t know where I’ll be even this time next year._ _And maybe that doesn’t need to be scary. Maybe it should be exciting._

* * * * *

Betty approached Pop’s with a bounce in her step. She hadn’t seen Jughead since that morning and it had been a busy day with the kids. 

It was like something was in the water: First of all, Daisy had cried all morning. Whenever Betty got her calmed down, one of the other kids in her group would say something to make her start again. The fourth grade girls were fighting with one another and had formed three separate factions, so Betty had had to help Toni and Cheryl attempt to calm that down for a solid chunk of their lake time, and as soon as that seemed resolved, one of Jughead’s boys had called a fourth grader by an expletive that even Betty was shocked that he knew. So basically, they were like ships in the night all day long, dealing with cranky kid after cranky kid. But now, Betty wasn’t cranky at all as she saw Jughead standing by the door to the ice cream shop. 

He gave her a dopey grin that must have matched the one on her own face and said “Long time no see.”

She had a moment of courage and walked right up and gave him a kiss. She felt him smile even bigger as her mouth met his.

“You ready for Silly Song night?” She asked when they pulled apart.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” His smile dropped.

“Are you okay?” She felt concern rise in her chest.

“Can I be honest with you?”

“Are you not usually?” She tried to joke.

He looked genuinely uncomfortable as he answered her. “I’m nervous about looking stupid in front of the boys in my cabin. It’s one thing to sing around adults, but kids are terrifying. I don’t want them to think I’m some loser for the rest of the summer.”

“Jug, I think you have the wrong impression here. The whole night is about looking like losers.”

“Maybe.” He looked unsure.

“Do you want me to teach you some of the songs ahead of time?”

“Please.”

“Alright.” Betty took a few steps back. “Let’s start with a classic. This will no doubt come up. It’s a repeat after me song but if you learn it, you can try to lead it early on in the night and get your cool points for your bunk.”

He nodded and matched her stance.

“First we clap, then we start slipping the words in.” She began clapping and he copied her motion.

“There was a great big moose.” Betty started.

“There was a great big moose.”

“He liked to drink a lot of juice!” She made her voice louder and Jughead let out a small laugh, but he repeated after her.

“He liked to drink a lot of juice!”

“Singin oh way oh!”

“Oh way oh!” His smiled was back full force.

“Way oh way oh way oh way oh!”

Jughead tried to repeat after her but he was laughing too hard and his clapping went off rhythm. 

“I have some news for you.” Betty let her hands fall to her sides and smiled. “If you think that’s funny, just you wait.”

“I just think you look funny screaming about juice.” He said in a teasing voice.

She shrugged at him. “Well I think you look funny all the time.”

“Oh really?” He said, raising his eyebrows and taking a step closer to her. 

“Yup. With that stupid smile of yours.” 

This only made his smile get bigger, and it was contagious. 

“Are you making fun of me, Betty Cooper?”

“What are you gonna do about it?”

He lunged towards her and she squealed, jumping out of his grasp. She turned and started running, with him hot on her heels. It only took him a few seconds to wrap his arms around her waist and catch her in her tracks.

She was laughing and squirming as he said “Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

She put on her most patronizing voice. “Its okay if you don’t know how to clap in a rhythm. Boys brains just develop slower than girls.”

He let out a gasp from behind her. “You’re a bully.”

She spun around in his arms and he didn’t loosen his grip in the slightest as he looked down at her with a crooked grin. 

“Again, I ask you, what are you going to do about it?”

“Hmmm.” He put a thinking face on and she couldn’t stop herself from laughing. It felt so good to be with him like this. He made her laugh in a way that no one but her best friends ever had. He looked her in the eye and said “No more kisses for you.”

She let out a dramatic gasp. “You wouldn’t.”

“I would.”

“I don’t think you could handle it.” She was mostly kidding, but his eyes were serious when he answered. 

“You’re right. I couldn’t.”

As he pulled her into a kiss, she felt happiness bubbling up in her chest. This was what summer should feel like. This was what every day should feel like. She leaned further into him, with no intention of letting go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading everyone!
> 
> I don't know about you guys but it's officially summer for me- warm weather, nothing but tees and tanks! I'm about it! And I'm going back to work next week for my summer program where I'll be seeing MY Zoey and Janiya :) anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter!
> 
> I wanted to focus a little bit more on Betty's other relationships in this one- I particularly like writing Cheryl.
> 
> xx Allison


	11. Daisy Chain

“Are you ready to make a little girls dream come true?” Cheryl casually flipped her hair over her shoulder as Betty and her friends waited for the field trip bus to arrive. They were going out to the audobon center and large nature reserve a 20 minute drive away.

“Could you possibly be more of a drama queen?” Veronica shook her head at Cheryl, who simply stood taller and let a wicked grin cross her face. 

The night before at the campfire, Betty had mentioned to Jughead that Janiya had admitted to having a crush on Caleb. Cheryl had been sitting on Betty’s other side and when she overheard this, she went into full planner mode.

“Well we have to set them up then.” She’d said excitedly. “He likes her, she likes him. It’s clearly our job as counselors to give them the extra push that they need.”

Now, as Betty, Jughead, Cheryl and Veronica stood on the edge of the parking lot, there was an entire plan ready to be set in motion. And Cheryl had, of course, roped their entire group of friends into it. Part one would begin when the bus arrived. Sweet Pea had told Caleb he would sit with him on the ride to the reserve, but when they got on the bus, Toni would conveniently steal that seat. Janiya had committed to sitting with Cheryl, but she’d be too late getting on the bus and have to sit with someone else, leaving Janiya and Caleb the only people on the bus without someone planned to sit with. 

Veronica, Kevin and Archie were all on the other bus and Betty and Jughead were just observers at this point, so they wouldn’t come into the plan until Part Two. 

“Why do I feel like Lindsay Lohan in the Parent Trap?” Jughead commented as the busses pulled up.

“I hate to break it to you, but you’re not Lindsay Lohan.” Cheryl responded. “You’re more like the lizard they put on that awful Meredith's canteen.” She looked him in the eye. “AKA, not the mastermind, only a tiny piece of the puzzle. And not a very cute one.” Cheryl strutted off to the bus as Betty and Jughead both stifled a laugh.

“Believe it or not, she’s actually starting to warm up to you.” Betty offered.

“I’ll take what I can get.”

He squeezed her hand quickly before they started towards the bus. She looked at him and smiled. Here he was, black tee, black and grey flannel around his waist, dark wash jeans. It was all dark, all the way down to his worn out black converse and back up to his inky black hair and grey beanie. Meanwhile, Betty was his true opposite. A light lavender tee shirt, light wash jeans, cream colored keds, blonde hair shining in the sunlight. And yet, it was him who was squeezing her hand, him kissing her last night in the dark after the campfire, him who made her head feel clear and free and…right. All this time, with every guy, something had been missing. But not with this boy next to her. On the outside, complete opposites, but on the inside, something just clicked and connected them to one another. Who would have thought?

Boarding the bus was nerve-racking. Sweet Pea and Toni had already done their part, and the timing was perfect. Cheryl boarded the bus as Caleb stood in the center aisle, looking for a place to sit, and Janiya sat a few rows behind him, waving for Cheryl to join her quickly. Cheryl executed her part perfectly, gesturing for Janiya to just let Caleb sit with her, shouting “Its okay! Just sit with your friend! I’ll be fine!” And slipping in quickly to an empty seat. 

Betty and Jughead sat together at the back of the bus. It was a pretty short ride to their destination, and Betty was still surprised by how easily they talked to each other, how quickly she learned new things about this person she’d actually known her whole life.

“It’s a classic. You’ve got Wynonna Rider in one of her best roles to date, the villains are this mean high school girl and this guy who has somehow mentally convinced himself that murder is okay. And the lines that have crossed generations? What’s your damage? And Veronica Sawyer and Heather Chandler are both icons.”

Betty nodded. “Dear Diary, my teen angst bullshit now has a body count.”

At this, Jughead’s eyes widened.

“Are you a Heathers fan?”

“It’s actually one of my favorites. I can see why you consider it a work of art. It sets itself apart from a lot of movies.”

“I wouldn’t have pegged that movie as one of your favorites. Dark comedy isn’t what I would have thought you’d be into.” Jughead ran his thumb across Bettys palm absentmindly and she felt herself shiver.

“And I would have thought you’d be more of a Beetlejuice guy when it comes to Wynonna, but here we are.”

She watched as Jughead’s face got even more excited and he nodded animatedly. “Okay, another fantastic film. And don’t even get me started on Edward Scissorhands.”

“I will never understand why they gave him the waterbed. They had to know that was going to be a disaster. He has scissors for hands. It’s right there in the title.”

He gave her that same look that he had in Pops after she’d given him the tour of the place. It was like he was proud, or surprised, or both. She could get used to that. 

“Betty Cooper, constantly turning girl next door standards on their head.”

She bumped her shoulder into his. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

 

* * * * *

 

As they stepped out of the bus at the nature reserve, Zoey sidled up to Betty. “Part One Complete.”

Betty couldn’t believe that Cheryl had actually involved the other girls in her bunk in this mission, but it was clear that they were all living for it. And the next part belonged to them. Everyone was supposed to choose a field trip buddy. They were all going to be in the same area, but the older kids were allowed to wander off a little bit as long as they followed the check in rules and let their counselors know where they were going. Normally, Janiya would partner with one of the girls in her bunk, but Cheryl had managed to pull Duke into this, and he and Zoey were going to partner up and suggest that Janiya and Caleb do the same. All they needed was this extra nudge, this one on one time. At least that was Cheryl’s theory.

“Part Two is a go.” Betty said to Zoey, and the younger girl actually saluted her before walking off. Veronica came up on Bettys left. “Meet up in an hour?” Betty knew exactly what she was referring to and nodded in return. “I’ll be there.”

“What was that about?” Jughead asked as Veronica walked back to her group. 

“None of your business.” Betty elbowed him. “Where do you wanna head?”

“This is an annual field trip right? You know your way around here.”

Betty nodded. “I know it like the back of my hand.”

“Then I want to see everything here that you love.”

Betty blushed. “Okay. Then we should get started.” 

 

There were four main parts of the reserve that Betty really loved. The first was by the lake, so they fell in behind a group of 4th graders headed in the same direction. Jughead casually linked his pinky with hers for a few moments while they walked and she felt a flip in her stomach.

 _I’m becoming a total cliche_ , she thought. But she didn’t honestly care.

On the edge of the lake was a large magnolia tree. It was in full bloom, with small petals scattered on the ground that had fallen in the wind. Pinks and purples and a sweet smell that had become completely nostalgic for Betty. She walked underneath the branches and breathed it in.

“First stop.” She said to Jughead. “This tree has been here as long as I can remember.” She took a seat near the trunk and gestured for him to do the same. “I remember back in the summer after 9th grade, Veronica had this summer fling with some guy who was only a counselor for that one summer. Do you remember that guy who went to Riverdale High our freshman year, Greg Barnes?”

Jughead nodded in recognition.

“They started dating near the end of the school year. He had the nerve to tell her the morning of this trip that he didn’t actually like her that much and he didn’t want to keep hanging out with her. We came here, and she cried, and Cheryl told her that he was a piece of shit and his nose was too big anyway.” Betty laughed at the memory. “It was the first time any of us had a broken heart.”

“Have you had a broken heart?” Jughead asked, a softness in his voice.

“No.” Betty said honestly. “You?”

“Never. But I remember the first girl Sweet Pea dated. He was devastated when it blew up in his face.”

“I have a hard time picturing Sweet Pea devastated.” Betty half joked.

“Us guys put up a tough front. But you girls can really do a number on us.” He took his hand in hers and turned his mouth into a pout. “Please be nice to me, I’m fragile.”

“Apparently not, if you’ve never had your heart broken.”

“I just never dated anyone who had the power to do that to me.”

Betty felt her stomach flip at this. As if maybe he meant that she was different.

A breeze passed by and Betty closed her eyes and inhaled the scent of the flowers again.

“You’re beautiful when you close your eyes.” She heard him say from next to her.

When she opened them, he was looking at her contentedly.

“Am I ugly when they’re open?”

“You’re beautiful no matter what you do.” He answered easily. “But when you close your eyes I can tell that you’re going somewhere else in your mind. That you’re taking it all in. Reflecting. And you get this small smile that you don’t have any other time.”

He noticed so much about her. She swore no one else had ever studied her like this before. Like she was a puzzle that they wanted to understand every piece of. It was a good feeling, she thought. Having someone want to know her on every level that they could. Especially someone she wanted to know in the same way. 

“How do you notice this stuff?”

“I just pay attention.”

Betty smiled and leaned over to touch his cheek.

“Jughead Jones. Constantly turning dark-brooding-silent-type standards on their head.”

He leaned into her hand as he replied “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

 

* * * * *

 

Betty showed Jughead the giant moss covered rock in the middle of the woods that she and Kevin had found when they were 9. He held her hand as she walked him to the large fallen tree that she, Cheryl and Veronica had snuck away and spent most of the field trip sitting on their Senior Year of high school, reminiscing. As she walked along the trunk, making Jughead laugh pretending she was going to fall over, their phones vibrated with Cheryl’s name filling the screens.

> _Cheryl: Part Three is a go. Don’t blow this Jughead._

“Alright. You have somewhere to be.” Betty said, looking down at Jughead from her new height above him.

“As do you, if I heard Veronica right earlier.” He reached his hand out to help her from the trunk and raised his eyebrows in a question.

“You don’t need to know everything that I’m doing. Worry about yourself. You’ve got a big job.”

“Talking up an 11 year old to tell his crush that he likes her.” Jughead sighed. “I feel like kind of a hypocrite. It’s not something I had the courage to do when I was his age.”

“Be the person you needed when you were younger, am I right?”

This made him smile and he opened his mouth to say something else but was interrupted by another vibration from their phones.

> _Cheryl: Hurry up. We don’t have all day._

“Gotta go.” He stepped backwards, looking at her for another moment before turning and walking in the opposite direction as she was going.

Betty walked back through the woods to the place where it had all began for her. As she stepped into the daisy field, she saw Cheryl and Veronica already waiting for her in the center. So many years spent here and this would be the last one. It was time to say goodbye to the biggest tradition of all.

Bettys first summer at camp had been her first step out into the world alone. She’d done it bravely, but something had been missing. She was in a class with 15 other girls that year, but she didn’t know any of them. She didn’t have a partner in crime. That year, they’d gone to the audobon center on their second day of camp. Betty could picture it all so clearly, even now. 

She’d walked into this field, away from her group. Part of her had felt adventurous, sneaking away from her counselor into this field that felt so much bigger back when she was so much smaller. But part of her also felt like it would be better if someone was with her. Just as she was thinking it, she felt a tap on her shoulder.

When she turned around, she saw a dark haired girl with a sparkly headband staring back at her. She stuck out her hand and Betty could tell that she was trying to be professional. 

“Veronica Lodge.” Betty took her hand and shook it. “Betty Cooper.”

She’d come out into the field when she realized that no one had seen Betty leave. Instead of going to a teacher, she had taken it upon herself to make sure that Betty didn’t get left behind.  

“Excuse me.” A red head with a fiery look in her eyes ran up to them, authority in her voice. “You can’t just walk off and do whatever you want.” This, of course, was Cheryl Blossom.

“Isn’t that what you just did?” Betty cautiously pointed out.

“Well if you’re doing it, why can’t I?” Cheryl shot back.

“I can’t believe the teachers didn’t notice that any of us were gone.” Veronica was watching as across the field, their group disappeared into the trees. She suddenly snapped her head back to the other girls and plopped herself down on the ground. “Oh well.” She casually adjusted her shorts as Betty glanced to where their class had disappeared. 

“Should we go after them?”

“They’re doing boring stuff. They’re about to go look at some berries or something.” Cheryl informed them.

“Well I don’t know about you guys, but I’d rather make a daisy chain that look at a poison berry.” Veronica announced, touching a daisy peeking from the grass in front of her.

Cheryl nodded and sat down next to her.

“Why did you follow me?” Betty had asked Veronica. The girl had to have known that she could get in trouble for this.

“I didn’t want you to get lost.” Veronica shrugged, picking a daisy out of the grass.

“But now we’re all lost.” Betty pointed out.

“Better to be lost together.” Veronica had said. Betty had looked at Cheryl, who was already well on her way to making a daisy chain, and sat down with this two girls who she hadn’t realized would become her best friends. _Better to be lost together._ A sentiment that had become their way of thinking from that day forward without any of them even knowing.

Now, Betty walked up to her friends and they smiled at her. Betty could see some sadness in Cheryls eyes, for this being their last time in the field as counselors, but she didn’t point it out because she knew her friend didn’t like to be called on her emotions. Instead, she sat right down and plucked a daisy from the grass.

“Daisy chain?”

Veronica and Cheryl sat down next to her like this was something they did everyday. 

“Daisy chain.” Veronica said in response, adjusting her shorts.

 

* * * * *

 

As the girls approached the bus, Jughead was waiting off to the side as the kids boarded. 

“How did it go?” Betty asked, and he gestured to their left. Janiya and Caleb were standing away from the rest of the group. Janiya was nodding with a shy smile while Caleb nervously adjusted his glasses.

“Do you think he just told her?” Betty said to Jughead as Cheryl and Veronica climbed onto the bus. 

“I hope so.” Jughead shrugged. 

“What did you say to him?”

“You don’t need to know everything I’m doing.” Jughead said with a smile. “Worry about yourself.”

“Touché.” Betty replied, glancing back to where Janiya was laughing at something Caleb had said. “I can’t believe he’s liked her for years and this is just now happening.”

Jughead looked at her and it felt like there was something more to it when he answered. 

“For such a smart girl, she’s pretty oblivious.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out! I've had a super tiring week and I wanted to like the final product of this, but couldn't think like a normal person for the past 7 days. 
> 
> Hope you all like it!  
> xx Allison


	12. To Be Announced

“This isn’t even up for debate.” Jughead said indignantly. It was Wednesday night, post dinner, and the debate club was still going strong. At this point, they didn’t spend their whole time debating, but they still tried to get in a good topic or two every day. It was too fun to watch different pairs compete and even though Cheryl was clearly in the lead, there was still a chance that someone could steal her title. 

 

> The chalkboard read:
> 
> _Cheryl- 8_
> 
> _Archie- 1_
> 
> _Sweet Pea- 5_
> 
> _Jughead- 5_
> 
> _Betty- 5_
> 
> _Toni- 6_
> 
> _Kevin- 4_

Off to the left of the board there was also two cartoon images of dolphins, produced one evening by Archie and Sweet Pea for no reason other than that they couldn’t draw dolphins. They looked like blobs with tails, but no one had erased them because they were just too great to look at.

“It clearly is up for debate, because it’s our topic.” Betty pointed out to Jughead. 

Cheryl had chosen their topic with a smirk on her face as she’d announced “Topic: Who will win field day on Friday? Girls vs Boys. Go.” 

The respective classes had been preparing for Friday’s showdown as if their lives depended on it. Bettys class had played mock games of four square all morning and she knew that Jughead’s team had been taking things just as seriously. Their trash talk had been starting up again over the last couple of days and with the actual games fast approaching, it wasn’t going to stop anytime soon. 

Standing in the teachers lounge now, Jughead looked over at Betty and then back at their audience before saying “Boys will clearly win. Duke is a four square beast and from what I’ve told, his skills have only improved over the last year. Plus, the girls have won the last two years. Everyone loves a good underdog.”

“As my opponent just mentioned, statistically speaking, it’s more likely that the girls will win, since it has become an annual defeat on the boys part. Not to mention, Duke has nothing on Claudia, the known four square reigning champion.“ 

Betty looked over to see Jughead trying to keep a smile from taking over his face. It didn’t matter to her anymore who won. All these years competing with this boy and she’d never realized that competing could actually just be fun if you let it. If you didn’t put so much weight on winning, and instead on smiling. It was about time. 

* * * * *

As the group finished up and split off to get ready for movie night, Betty slipped her hand into Jugheads. She wasn’t going to waste any time changing from the day, when she could instead spend it wandering with him. So she was a little sweaty. So her hair was a little frizzy. So her nail polish from the week before was half chipped off. So what? She realized how nice it was to fall into a relationship with someone who had already seen you at your most unattractive. You never felt like you had to be anything other than yourself. 

Relationship. Was that what this was? It had only been a few days, but Betty couldn’t help but wonder what Jughead thought was happening between them. Was this a summer fling, done on Monday, never to be seen again? It didn’t feel like it, but Betty felt like maybe it was time to confirm.

“I wonder what movie they’re showing tonight.” She said instead. Jamie had told them that it was ‘to be announced’ right before the screening that night. Something about the element of surprise. Betty thought this was funny. There was only so much room for surprise when you had to show a kid friendly movie.

“Probably some slasher film.” Jughead teased.

“The Scream movies.” Betty suggested.

“Freddy vs. Jason.” 

Betty let out a laugh.

“Could you imagine? Daisy would probably cry every night for the rest of camp.”

“Veronica could deal with that for the next three nights.” He joked, but then a silence fell over them.

After a minute had passed, Jughead said quietly “Back to the real world on Monday.”

“What does the real world even look like?” Betty said, matching his volume.

“Mine looks like short film editing and snobby actors and a never ending job hunt. I’m guessing yours is similar, with maybe some different characters?”

Betty nodded.

“Article editing and rude professors and the good old never ending job hunt.”

“Okay.” Jughead stopped in his tracks and turned to her. “So that’s what it looks like now, but all that is supposed to lead up to what you want it to look like. So forget what your real world looks like. What do you want it to look like?”

Betty shrugged and avoided his eyes.

“Ending the job hunt. Being able to pay my bills.”

Jughead threw his hands up and took a few steps back.

“Bigger than that. What would really make you happy?” He was staring at her so intensely. She could tell that this was one of those moments where he was really trying to get to know her. And she wanted to give him something real to know.

So she thought carefully before she spoke.

“Being able to easily ride the subway to work… People watching on the way there and back from some giant building where I work on the 8th floor and when I walk in everyone smiles at me and I feel comfortable there… Like I’ve found my place.”

Jughead nodded. 

“Also maybe a puppy. I think theres a puppy in my future.”

He smiled at this.

“That sounds so lame.” She felt uncomfortable with her answer. It suddenly seemed so childish in comparison to what Jughead must have expected.

But his eyes lit up and he responded with intensity. 

“Scene one. Cut to Betty Cooper outside a skyscraper in the center of Manhattan. She looks up at the building and we see people weaving all around her as she steps inside. She walks through the lobby and a group of people turn and smile her way. We can tell that they know her and love her. Her phone vibrates in her pocket. It’s a text from her best friend, Veronica Lodge. It pops up in front of a photo of her golden doodle puppy that she uses as a screensaver. She smooths down her pale pink blouse and walks into the elevator with a smile on her face. Camera zooms in on her French manicured nail pressing the button on the elevator. Floor number 8.”

Betty raised her eyebrows.

“Wow. It sounds better when you put it like that.”

Jughead took her hand back in his and they continued walking.

“I liked the way you put it. I just added some embellishments.”

“Well what about you?”

“What about me?” He was absentmindedly rubbing his thumb over hers, a habit that she was getting used to.

“What does your real world look like?” She prompted.

“Being able to make film that I like. Maybe walking through Central Park with my own puppy.”

“A golden doodle?” She teased. “Very specific dog choice.”

“Nah, that was for you.” He shook his head and looked up towards the sky, where the moon was clocking in for the night. “For me, a dachshund named Hot Dog.” 

She let out a quick laugh. “You really have it all planned out don’t you?”

He looked at her and smiled.

“Some of it.”

Betty let go of his hand and hopped in front of him on the path. She put her hands in front of her as if she was holding a camera and seeing him through it. “Scene two. Jughead Jones walks through Central Park with a camera in one hand and Hot Dogs leash in the other.” 

He laughed quietly.

“Nice. You’re forgetting something though.”

“What?” She dropped her hands to her sides as he stepped closer.

“We see Jughead’s face light up. The camera pans out. We see that he’s walking towards someone. A beautiful blonde girl who looks up from her golden doodle puppy and smiles at him.”

Betty felt her cheeks heat up. “That is the cheesiest thing in the entire universe.”

Jughead just gave her a crooked smile and leaned in to kiss her. “You liked it.”

* * * * *

It was time for the movie to start. Betty was sitting with Jughead on her left, Cheryl on her right. Kevin and Veronica sat in front of them, and Betty and Cheryl had been trying to get popcorn stuck in Veronicas hair for the last five minutes, when suddenly, Bettys piece of popcorn actually stayed. 

She and Cheryl, along with Jughead, who had been watching contently, tried to stifle their laughter, but Veronica spun around to look at them.

“What is so funny back there?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Betty said innocently.

“We definitely weren’t throwing pieces of popcorn into your hair.” Cheryl added. Veronica’s hand went straight to her dark locks and she quickly snatched the piece of popcorn out. 

Cheryl and Betty laughed and Veronica grabbed her own popcorn to throw back, but she only managed to get one piece aimed at Cheryl’s face before Jamie’s voice came from in front of the movie screen. 

“It’s time for our feature presentation.” Everyones voices automatically turned off when she spoke. Except for a first grader in the front row who was vigorously shushed by her classmates. 

The movie was starting and Betty couldn’t tell what it was yet. She didn’t think she’d seen it before. But when she saw the name of the movie appear on the screen her eyes widened. It was E.T. Her mind flashed back to last movie night, when she’d told Jughead about how afraid she was of this movie as a child. _What are the chances?_

She turned to tell him what a coincidence this was and saw him watching her reaction with a smile on his face. Like he already knew this was going to happen.

“You did this?”

He shrugged.

“You said you wouldn’t be afraid of him now. I wanna see if thats true.”

“You did this just so you could tease me?”

She swatted him in the stomach and he grabbed her hand and held it in his lap.

“I did it because I know how good it feels to conquer a fear you’ve had since childhood. It might seem inconsequential now but just you wait.”

She leaned into him. There was nothing more to be said. 

He whispered into her hair before the dialogue of the movie started, unable to resist a final tease.

“Hopefully you don’t have nightmares tonight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you're all having an awesome week!! 
> 
> xx Allison


	13. Tradition

It was the last day of regularly scheduled camp activities. Betty had about 10 friendship bracelets, from the girls in her bunk, Veronica, Cheryl and of course, Jughead. She was tanned from the sun and a little bit burned on her shoulders and all of her nail polish was chipped off. Her hair was wild and she’d stopped trying to tame it, opting for either a messy ponytail or a wavy mane filled with flyaways. She felt like she was at her best, 100% prime Betty Cooper. But it was almost over. 

She finished up her last strategy session with her bunk before the big relay race tomorrow. She played a game of Sardines during intramural sports with kids from all the different grades. She gave in completely to the nostalgia and played Ms. Mary Mack with Veronica and Cheryl on their lunch break. And she went to Pops before dinner for one of her last ice cream dates of the summer, with the boy who she’d initially thought would be a thorn in her side but had turned into the sweetest part of her summer by far.

And she kissed him. She kissed him at their final craft class before any students showed up. He pulled her aside and kissed her behind the dining hall before lunch started and she missed 10 minutes of her break but she didn’t care. He kissed her after their ice creams and the taste of his cookies and cream ice cream mixed with the taste of her raspberry and she smiled while he cupped her chin in his hands. 

If Betty was being honest with herself, she was ready for more than kissing, but it would do just fine for now. With him, it felt like so much more, like there was a deeper meaning behind his lips. She hadn’t quite placed it, but she wasn’t too concerned about it as he pulled her into the darkness while the campfire winded down and held her between his body and the trunk of a maple tree. 

“So tonight’s the night, huh?” He asked as they came up for air.

“Yeah. The girls are really excited. They finally get to be a part of the ‘big kids’ tradition.” It was Thursday night, the night that Betty and Jugheads groups would sneak back out to the campfire for awhile after curfew. Betty would pretend to be asleep while her girls snuck out of the bunk, but as soon as they were gone, she’d follow them and meet Jughead in the trees to keep an eye on them as they met up with his boys.

Nothing crazy ever really happened at these after hours campfires. At most, a few groups over the years had played truth or dare or even spin the bottle. But it was a rite of passage. Betty and Jughead just had to make sure they were safe while they rode the wave of freedom and adultness that came with sneaking out. 

“They’re too grown up for me now.” She told him. He hadn’t moved to let her out of her place up against the tree and he was twirling some of her hair in her hands as he watched her lips move. 

“They’re twelve.” He pointed out with a smile.

“And what were you thinking about when you were twelve?” She insisted. “They’re hitting puberty. Someones getting kissed tonight.”

“You’re not wrong.” He smiled, and leaned in to pull her back into a deep kiss of their own.

 

Betty let out a yawn from her bed, completely out of dramatics. “I think it’s time to go to sleep.” She said, letting her eyes droop. She had to put on a good show so that the girls would think she was out like a light. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” They all answered. They didn’t think she noticed the look they exchanged. She held back a smile and laid down on her pillow.

For their part, they waited a solid 15 minutes before they tried to check on her status.

“Ms. Betty?” Olivia whispered. Betty said nothing and trained her breathing into long deep breaths. 

Olivia said it again, and when she got no response, Betty heard shuffling from the other girls.

“Are you sure she’s asleep?” Janiya sounded nervous.

“If she wasn’t, she would have just heard you say that.” Zoey snapped.

“Guys, lets be real.” Sams voice joined in. “She’s been where we are right now. She 100% knows what we’re doing tonight anyway. She’s just going to let us get away with it.”

That’s my girl, Betty thought. They were smarter than she had been at her age. She listened carefully as they tiptoed out the door and shut it quietly behind them. She waited a minute just in case one of them had forgotten something, then sat up. She grabbed a dark grey hoodie and put it on over her pajamas. They were baby blue, plaid shorts and a teeshirt. She didn’t bother putting shoes on as she followed them in quietly exiting the bunk and walked to her and Jughead’s rendezvous point-the steps to a cabin used as a classroom far enough from the campfire that they wouldn’t be noticeable, but could still keep an eye on things. 

He was already there waiting for her.

“The boys barely waited five minutes to try to sneak out. If Pea and I hadn’t been faking, they would have been completely screwed.”

“Proof that girls are smarter than boys.” She smiled at him and sat down next to him on the steps. He immediately took her hand in his and started to trace circles on her palms with his thumb. 

“So what do they really do at these things?” He asked, looking out to where the girls and boys were just now meeting up.

“I don’t know. I’ve only been a part of one, and spied on a second when I was the bunk counselor my senior year of high school. Veronica was out here for last years and she said that nothing interesting happened. I think she was hoping to have some kind of hot gossip to report back.”

“What did she think was going to happen?”

“Who knows.” Betty shrugged and leaned into him and he easily switched his hand to around her waist and pulled her snug to his side.

“Well your turn at this must have been pretty juicy for her to be expecting such a scandal.”

“Not really.” Betty shrugged again, but she wasn’t a good liar and her voice faltered.

“Betty Cooper, what did you do?” He playfully poked her leg.

“I didn’t do anything.”

He leaned away a few inches to give her a look that said he didn’t believe her one bit.

“Okay fine. We played Spin the Bottle.”

“You didn’t.” There was a glint in his eye. He thought this was funny.

“We did. It was Cheryl’s idea.” 

Jughead shook his head. “Why am I not surprised? What happened?”

“Well firstly, Kevin was appalled. It was completely boy girl and even at age 12 he knew that wasn’t his thing. He refused to participate but he was egging everyone else on. Veronica was trying to play it cool but neither of us had ever kissed a boy before. I was so nervous, there were boys there that summer that I didn’t really know, mixed in with boys I’d known my whole life.”

“You didn’t want to kiss any of them? No secret crushes that you finally got to act on?” Jughead teased and she gave him a light slap in the stomach.

“Absolutely not.”

“I’m guessing you had to take a turn though.” 

Betty sighed. “I tried to get out of it. But I guess it also felt like it didn’t mean much. Sure it would be embarrassing, but then it would be over with, you know?”

“So who did your bottle land on?” He was engrossed in the story now, but she was getting to the most embarrassing part.

Betty exhaled before she answered. “Archie Andrews.”

Jughead raised his eyebrows. 

“I just walked over to him and bent down awkwardly and gave him this quick peck and then speed walked back to my seat. We’ve never talked about it since.”

“And did Veronica get her first kiss that night?”

“Thats the thing…”

His eyes widened. “I feel some hot gossip coming.”

Betty leaned into his chest, partly because it had become one of her favorite places to be, but partly to avoid eye contact as she said “Veronica’s spin landed on Archie too.”

She felt Jugheads chest rise as he tried not to laugh.

“She of course walked over there with no subtlety and kissed him like it was nothing, like she’d done it a million times before. I don’t think they’ve ever talked about it either. But we’ve gone ever since then knowing that we had the same boy as our first kiss.”

He let his laughter out in one short chuckle. “The drama.”

Betty moved herself so that she was looking him in the eye.   
“Okay, I told you my tale of woe. It’s your turn now.”

“I didn’t kiss anyone until high school.” He answered with a tone of indifference.

“Really?” This surprised her.

“A girl who didn’t go to our school.”

“Your girlfriend?”

He winced.  
“For about a week.”

“Bad break up?”

“I guess you could say that. She found out I liked someone else and she wasn’t too happy about it.”

Betty gasped, pretending to be offended.  
“So this whole time that you’ve been grilling me, you’ve been the one with the real scandal!”

A loud laugh came from the campfire. Betty looked over to see what was going on, but she couldn’t hear what they were saying. 

Betty and Jughead were quiet for a for minutes as they watched from afar. Olivia was talking about something animatedly. Betty couldn’t hear what she was saying, but she felt a warmth in her chest knowing that these were the moments the girls would remember years down the line.

“So how was the kiss?” Jughead asked suddenly.

“What?” She was thrown off. Why was he back tracking?

“With Archie.” She looked him in the eyes as he said it, and she saw something there that she hadn’t expected.

“Are you jealous of 12 year old me kissing 12 year old Archie?”

“I wouldn’t use the word jealous.”

“Well what word would you use?”

He thought for a moment. “Contemplative.”

“We were twelve.”

“It’s not that.” He replied, without making eye contact. “It’s more that we’re not twelve anymore.”

“What do you mean?”

“Archie Andrews is the kind of guy that girls are always excited to have their first kiss with. Quarterback, spends his mornings working out. If you’re the girl next door, he’s the boy next door.” He paused. “And yet here you are, sitting with the loner weirdo who never takes his beanie off.”

“Here I am. And for the record, I’m not just the girl next door.”

“I know. I’ve never thought you were.” She watched him as he said this, and heard the sincerity in his voice. 

“Also for the record, you’re the only person I want to be kissing, Jug.”

“You know…” he shook his head and smirked. “I can’t say the same.” 

There was laughter in his eyes and she hit his arm.

“Joking.” He laughed quietly and rubbed his thumb along her jawline. “You’re the only person I want to kiss too, Betts.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I'm so sorry it's been taking me so long to get chapters out. But we're near the end now, so I'm really going to try to do better!
> 
> I've been so busy and tired- I hope you're still reading even though it's taking me forever!
> 
> xx Allison


	14. It's On

They waited on the steps until 11:30, when they saw the campers start to stand up and get ready to go back to their respective bunks. Nothing dramatic happened. Or maybe it did, but Betty and Jughead didn’t really notice. They were there to make sure no one died, not to spy on the intricate details of their night.

When the kids stood up, Betty and Jughead gave each other a quick kiss and then walked back to their bunks and crawled into bed to pretend that they’d been there the whole time. Betty waited five minutes and listened to her girls come in.

She heard Zoey’s voice first, too loud outside the door. “I can’t believe that just happened.” 

There was a chorus of “shhhhh”s from the other girls and they opened the door to walk in.

“Is she asleep still?” Olivia whispered and they were all silent for a moment, presumably waiting for Betty to sit up and ask where they were. 

“No. We’re good.” Sam said. This was followed by the quiet sounds of people taking off their shoes and climbing into their beds. None of them said anything for a couple of minutes as they did this. When they all settled, Janiya’s voice floated over from her bunk. 

“I just had my first kiss.”

“Yeah you did.” Marisa replied. “You go girl.”

Betty smiled to herself. The girls whispered goodnight to each other. A few minutes later, Betty was asleep.

* * * * *

It was the day of the camp-wide battle. 

Each team had a color and each team member got a bandana in their groups shade and a black and white Camp Clearwater shirt. Betty’s girls were not satisfied with this alone. They had been given purple as their color and as soon as they’d found out, they’d ran with it.

Sam’s hair was up in a purple scrunchie, purple high tops on her feet, bandana tied around her wrist. Zoey’s hair was in braids, a purple ribbon braided through each of them, the bandana tied around the belt loop on her shorts. Janiya’s hair was up in two afro puffs, her bandana around her neck, and she had a pair of purple jean shorts. This had been a big deal when the group was planning their outfits. Olivia and Claudia had purple shorts but they weren’t jeans. It was next level. They’d all painted their nails the same shade of purple and brought Betty in on it as well. You’d have thought color coordination was one of the competition categories. If it was, they would have won in a heartbeat. 

Marisa was talking about strategies for the relay race when Betty saw Jugheads team walk up to the campfire clearing. His eyes found her in seconds flat and she made a point of pushing up the sleeves of the purple flannel she’d put on just for the occasion. 

He weaved his way through the groups and over to her. “Are you trying to steal my style?”

“I didn’t know you had a patent on flannels.”

He gave her that smirk, the one he’d been giving her for her entire life. Her stomach used to coil when she saw it, her irritation over taking her whole body. Now it made her giddy. 

“Copying your competition doesn’t mean being able to beat them.” He pointed out.

“I’m not even the slightest bit worried. I won’t be the one ugly crying tonight.”

“Jughead!” Sweet Pea’s voice rang out from across the fire pit. 

Jughead gave Betty a smile before he turned to walk away.

“You look cute.” He said, turning on his heel. “Not that that’s new.”

The day was divided into sections. They’d already used up their prep time this morning, and it was nearing the start of the games. At 1:00, the third through fifth graders would face off in the two legged race, followed by four square, chalk art, dodgeball, and culminating in the relay race. 

Betty took her place on the sidelines as her group paired off. This category was one and done. Whoever made it over the finish line first took 1st place for their group. Points were given out to the top three winners, 3 points for first, 2 points for second, and 1 point for third. Whoever had the most points at the end of all 5 rounds was the winning group.

Sam and Olivia were paired up for the two legged race and they had won three points for their team last year. But this was one of the categories that could go either way. There was a strong pair in the 4th grade class and, unfortunately, among the 5th grade boys. Betty knew that the overall winner of the day wasn’t as important to her girls as having more points than the boys. This was the real competition for them. If the third graders took first overall, so be it. As long as the 5th grade girls beat out the 5th grade boys.

The boys team was donning blue bandanas, with much less extra color coordination than the girls. Betty watched as Duke and Olivia stared each other down. She looked across the racing space to see Jughead staring at her with that old competitive glint in his eye. She gave him a beauty pageant smile as Cheryl counted down for the race to start. 

* * * * *

An hour later, Betty and Jughead grabbed icy water from the cooler. The scoreboard above them taunted Betty with the facts of the day so far: her group was neck and neck with Jughead’s. 

Sam and Olivia had come in second on the two legged race, but Duke and Caleb had come in third. And in four square, a boy named George had managed to narrowly beat Claudia in the final round.

Right now, both their teams had 4 points, while the 4th grade boys had 1 and the 3rd grade girls had 3. 

“Time for the chalk competition.” Jughead said. “Apparently Duke has been working hard all year to win this one.”

“Sam doesn’t even have to try.” Betty shot back.

“I know. The female mind and all that.”

“No. This isn’t a boy girl thing. It’s a Sam thing. She’s the best artist here.” Betty looked over to see the girl drinking water with Olivia and Janiya. She had her head thrown back laughing. “When they were in third grade, your boys decided to do an undersea theme for this competition. It might have worked too, except my girls had decided on the same thing. Sam drew this mermaid swimming in the water, all these creatures artfully placed around her. Marisa drew a pretty fantastic octopus that year too.”

“You’re going to miss them.” He said this quietly, like he didn’t know if he should broach the topic.

“I like to think they’ll actually survive middle school.” Betty looked over as all six of the girls joined each other in laughter.

“Middle school gets us all. But if anyone’s going to make it through, it’s them.” He was sincere. 

“Sam will probably go through a super punk phase. All kinds of colors in her hair. Janiya will tell her not to, but she’ll secretly like it.” 

“They’ll be back. And so will you.”  
Betty watched as the girls high fived over something that she couldn’t hear. It was her last summer as a counselor, but they could be back next year taking her place in the junior counselor ranks. It felt bittersweet.

Jughead cleared his throat and snapped her out of her reverie.   
“In the meantime, there are three competitions left. Sure, Sam could win the chalk comp, but my boys are dodgeball kings.”

Betty gave him a grateful smile. A change of subject was just what she needed.

“We’ll see about that.”

* * * * *

There was one round left of the dodgeball competition. Betty was trying to keep her cool as she looked up at the score board. They needed these points. They needed to stay in the lead.

“It’s happening.” Cheryl said. Betty had been chugging her water with such intensity that she had forgotten her friend was there.

“What’s happening?” Betty’s grip on her water tensed as Duke hit Olivia with a ball. 

“Your monster is taking over.”

“Excuse me?” She snapped her head towards Cheryl. 

Her friend looked at her cooly, screwing the cap back on her own water. “It was all fun and games at the beginning of the day. But now that Jughead’s team is actually- god forbid- holding their own, you’re starting to panic. You don’t want him to win. Your inner self is screaming at you to take him down.”

“You make it sound like some kind of animal instinct.”

“Isn’t it though?”

Betty only looked at her in confusion.

Cheryl let out a theatrical sigh before continuing. “You’ve been competing with this boy since we were 8. I’ve seen you do it over and over again. Every science fair, every spelling bee. That time we had to decide who was taking home the class fish for the summer and you campaigned like it was the presidential election and then you both lost to Ethel Muggs.” 

“A sore subject.” Betty interjected.

Cheryl rolled her eyes. “It comes naturally to you to tear him down at this point. Don’t let that ruin whatever it is that you two have going here.”

“Whatever it is.” Betty repeated quietly. She still didn’t know.

Cheryl nodded and gave Betty's hand a quick squeeze before walking away to join her team on the sidelines.  
“Whatever it is.”

Only Zoey was left on her team, up against three boys. She could do this. Betty had seen her do it before. But the look in Zoey’s eyes didn’t match hers right now. She wasn’t in full on competition mode. She was laughing as a ball collided with her arm. She was smiling as she went over to congratulate the boys who had just beat her. 

Betty saw Jughead exchange high fives with some of his boys, but then his eyes caught hers and he started walking her way. Maybe now wasn't a good time to bring this up. In fact, looking around at all the campers getting ready for the final relay race, smiling, dancing, talking at the top of their voices, it was one of the worst possible times. Their teams were still neck and neck. There was one competition left before the final results. But Betty was realizing that what she was really nervous about wasn’t the game at all.

“Hi.” Jughead said, and she could tell from his tone that he was revving up for some more trash talk.

“What is this?” The words slipped out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

“What is what?”

“This.” She gestured between the two of them. As soon as she did it, she felt twice as awkward as she had before. “Us. Are we an us?”

Betty noted the slight smile that played on Jughead’s lips as he responded.  
“Do you want to be an us?”

Betty exhaled. This is it. Just say it.  
“I want some understanding of what comes after this. Not in the ideal future, years from now, or whatever. Just in the future that is Monday morning. Because I don’t really know what’s going on here, or what’s going on there when I get back, and I’ve been trying to play it cool because this is still new but-“

“Betty.” He interrupted her softly, placing his hand on her arm. “This is not a summer fling for me. On Monday, when I go back to the city, I’m happy that you’re going to the same place. Lucky, even.”

A relief washed over her that she hadn’t realized she was missing.   
“Then let’s be an us.”

His smile broke into a full on dopey grin that matched the feeling in her stomach.  
“An us it is.”


	15. Weekend Getaway

After narrowly beating the boys and keeping their rightful title, the girls in Bettys bunk celebrated with ice cream from Pops.

Olivia eyed Bettys raspberry cone suspiciously. “I thought you always got vanilla.”

“Yeah, that’s new.” Sam added.

“I’ve been trying a lot of new things this summer.” Betty said simply.

It was 5:00 and the bittersweet ending of camp was coming at them like a steam train. Betty laughed with the girls over Duke tripping in the relay race. Janiya confessed to Betty the kiss she’d gotten the night before. _These girls are going to middle school._ Betty remembered what Jughead had said earlier. _If anyones going to make it through it, it’s them._ She hadn’t realized how much she related these girls back to her own friendships. How they’d formed here and lasted her entire young life. How she, Veronica and Cheryl had conquered middle school together. How that felt like such a long time ago now.

When the girls parents picked them up, Betty gave them hugs and felt a warmth in her chest. Maybe this was the last time she’d see them. Maybe they’d be back here next summer and she’d drop by. Maybe they’d never set foot in this camp again, but she’d run into them on the street years from now. But the important thing was that she’d gotten to be a part of their lives now, in this crucial point where they had just started to try to figure out who they were. They had no idea that they’d be trying to figure that out for their entire lives. And, as Betty had just begun to realize, that was okay. 

“I know we’ve seen other kids go through this camp over the time we’ve been here.” Veronica said quietly as Sam’s car pulled out of the parking lot. “But these ones are just somehow different. Is that bad to say?”

“I feel like that’s normal.” Toni replied. “Plus we’re all feeling sappy about our own endings right now so.”

“Oh my god. Get it together.” Cheryl had been staring silently as the girls cars pulled out. Betty knew that she was feeling just as emotional as them, but everyone handled things differently. “We have the whole night ahead. We need to get our shit together and go have the best weekend of our lives.” She turned and strutted off to her bunk, presumably to grab her duffel bag. 

Camp might have been over for the kids, but the best part of it for the counselors had just begun. They’d hike up to the spot they’d claimed as their own years ago, up a hiking trail and veering off into the trees, spitting them out into a clearing at the top of the mountain where they had an amazing view of the valley below. Two nights in tents around a makeshift campfire. 

Betty and her friends had invested a few years back in a big tent for the three of them to have their own space but still be together. Kevin usually spent at least one of the nights there with them too. When Toni came on the scene, Cheryl insisted that this was friend time, and Toni could join them, but she wouldn’t be ditching her friends on their annual overnight adventure. They usually snuck off at some point in the night, but they always came back to the tent as if nothing had happened. Betty had a feeling she’d be sneaking off herself at some point this year.

Betty, Jughead, Veronica and Kevin walked the 20 minute hike together, with the others walking faster ahead of them. There was no rush, but Cheryl did like to get this over with as fast as she could. Betty on the other hand, liked to breathe in the feeling that she got walking through the trees, seeing flowers sprouting up, the smell of the tree bark and the grass and the dirt mingling together while the sun peeked through now and again between the branches above them.

“Do you remember the first time we did this?” Veronica asked, but the answer was obvious. There was no way any of them had forgotten.

“Please tell this story.” Jughead’s voice was tinged with genuine excitement. “I want to know the origin of what we’re doing here.”

Betty and Veronica exchanged a smile and Kevin took in a breath to start. “So it was 4 years ago now. The last summer before our senior year of high school. We were all planning to go home after the final games, we hadn’t brought any extra clean clothes for the occasion, our parents were expecting us all back in a couple of hours. It was completely unplanned.”

Betty picked up the story where he left off. “We were all getting ready to walk to our cars, just hanging out around the campfire for a few more minutes. Feeling kind of sad that the summer had ended. And Cheryl made this comment like ‘I wish we had an excuse to stay.’"

Even though Betty knew this moment was stored in her core memories, she surprised herself at how vividly she could picture it.

"Maybe a half an hour later, we are right about to walk away and we hear Pop calling out from the shop. Obviously we all rush over there and it turns out the ice cream refrigerator had somehow stopped cooling the ice cream. It was melting out everywhere. All the extra tubs are leaking, it’s on the floor, puddling up everywhere. Everyone else is gone already, Ms. Clearwater and all the other counselors. Its just the three of us, Archie, Cheryl and Pop.”

Jughead was listening intently as they walked along. Betty realized that she hadn’t really told anyone this story in a long time. The only other person to join their ranks had been Toni, and that was 3 years ago at this point. It felt right somehow that, now, her last time she was walking this hike to her final tradition, she was getting to reflect on how it started.

“It was already like 7:00.” Veronica jumped in. “We had been loitering around for hours after things ended already.”

Kevin nodded. “We spent 2 hours helping him clean everything up. Then it’s 9:00. An hour drive home. We’re all tired and not super excited that this was how we were headed out for the year.” 

“Then,” Veronica looked at Betty with a laugh. “We’re about to leave again, all feeling kind of weird about it. Walking to our cars slowly and sadly, I think I was already opening my door. And our own Betty Cooper just stops in her tracks and says…”

“Let’s not go.” Betty continued, feeling the nostalgia sink in full force. “Maybe it’s a sign.”

“She says we should just camp out and stay one more night. It’s late, why not just have this last night together instead of driving home in the dark.” Kevin nudged Betty with his elbow as he said this.

Jughead looked at Betty, impressed. “Betty Cooper, spontaneous?”

“Who knew?” Veronica joked and Betty glared at her, but she wasn’t even the slightest bit upset at the comment. 

“Why didn’t you just stay in the cabins?” Jughead asked.

“That was all Betty too.” Kevin replied, taking a sip from his water bottle. “She said why not make the most of it and camp under the stars.”

Betty’s heart flipped at the memory. “We broke into the welcome building and stole two tents and some sleeping bags. But we ended up not putting the tents up at all the first night and just sleeping on the ground. Spent all of Saturday there, decided to keep winging it and stay until Sunday. Texted our parents, told them not to expect us back.”

“Your mom was pissed.” Veronica laughed.

“I was about to turn 18.” Betty shrugged. “It was out of her control by then.”

“So,” Jughead raised his eyebrows. “Spontaneous and a rebel to boot. You never stop surprising me, Cooper.”

“I have layers.” She copied his signature smirk. “The best part was, Pop had salvaged one big tub of ice cream and he sent it with us with some coolers. We ate it around the campfire that night.”

"Thats why Archie threw a tub of ice cream in the cooler." Jughead nodded in understanding. 

"We're kind of dorks aren't we?" Betty realized. "Having all of these traditions?"

Jughead squeezed her hand. "It just shows how much you all love this place and each other. There's nothing dorky about that."

When they reached the clearing, Cheryl and Toni were already trying to put up the tent. They’d managed to rope Archie and Sweet Pea into it instead of putting up their own. They’d dropped the cooler by the campfire, containing an abundance of campfire food, drinks and ice cream. Betty and Veronica walked over and added their own backpacks to the loot. They’d filled them to the brim with chips, popcorn, pretzels and candy. 

“I’m glad you all take your food so seriously.” Jughead commented. “Otherwise I don’t know if this would work.”

Betty looked at him to see that smirk on his face. She smiled, knowing that there was nothing unkind lurking behind it, only a teasing affection meant just for her.

* * * * *

It was, objectively, a perfect summer night.

The sun had set, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky to hide the stars. The moon was a crescent, and the air was warm with a slight breeze now and then that kept it from being too hot. The crickets had come out for the night, background music to the endless conversation around the campfire. Betty sat between Jughead's legs, his arms around her, and stared up at the stars. She felt that feeling, that something was just beginning, but it was mixed in with the feeling of something special ending. She pushed the thought out of her mind and listened, content, as her friends talked. 

A campfire was the best place for conversation, Betty had learned over the years. When the clock struck 12, everyones minds seemed to open up to another plane of existence. In the dark of the night, with only a couple of flashlights, the moon and the light of the fire, people always said exactly what they were feeling. It was late, the world seemed wide, and as tiredness lined the edges of their brains, the best thoughts leapt out that somehow never were brought up otherwise. It was a phenomenon, in Bettys opinion, that was much better than any other.

“Avril Lavigne died in 2003.” Veronica announced. The topic was conspiracy theories.

“I’ve heard that one.” Jughead nodded in agreement.

“I haven’t.” Betty attested from her place in his arms. 

“So in 2003, Avril Lavigne died, and no one told anyone about it, they just started using her body double so they could continue to make bank off the career she had started.” Veronica said this like it was simple, cut and dry.

“Where are the receipts?” Cheryl said, obviously not buying it.

“The corners of her eyes somehow changed.” Toni offered.

“Wait, you’re in on this?” Cheryl looked at her girlfriend in shock.

Toni shrugged. “I just know the theory.”

“Theory or facts?” Veronica argued, turning on a flashlight so everyone could clearly see her face. “Her birthmarks also changed. There are lyrics in her post-2003 songs that give clues to back this up, and you’ll notice that her style did a 180, probably because its not the same person.”

“Do you really, deeply, believe this?” Betty squinted at her friend in the darkness. 

Veronica paused for a moment. “I don’t know, but its fun to think about.” 

This made Betty laugh, and Cheryl threw a marshmallow at Veronica from across the circle. 

“What is death, anyway?” Archie said suddenly.

“Wow. We’re going there.” Cheryl’s eyes widened.

“Well.” Betty felt Jughead’s chest rise and fall as he spoke. “At the end of the day, we are all just Sims and someones up there controlling us from their MacBook.”

“If that were true, I feel like I’d pee myself a lot more often.” Kevin joked.

“Also, who’s to say their using a MacBook?” Sweet Pea said defensively.

“Sweet Pea, you’re the only one here who has an android.” Jughead shot back. “Let it go.”

A laugh echoed over the group, followed by yawns all around. Betty checked her phone to see that it was 1:30. 

“I think it’s past my bedtime.” Toni said. “I’ll stay up all night tomorrow, but after working today, I need sleep.” 

“Agreed.” Veronica gathered up the blanket she had been wrapped in and stood. “See you on the flip side.” 

Everyone started to stand up, but Betty didn’t move a muscle. Not yet.

“No rush.” Cheryl said casually as she and Toni ducked into the tent.

When everyone was gone, Betty turned to look at Jughead. “I’m not tired yet.”

“Me neither. Hang out for a bit more?”

“The bugs are out full force.” Betty kept a casual tone in her voice. This was somewhat true, but not the real reason that she wanted to go into Jughead’s tent. She looked him in the eye and saw the same thoughts swimming in them.

“We can go in my tent. Sweet Pea is with Archie right now.”

Betty nodded quickly and stood up to accept the offer.

They laid down inside, on top of Jughead's unzipped sleeping bag. Betty felt a shiver run through her and Jughead pulled a blanket over them and wrapped his arms around her. 

He searched her eyes with a question. “Better?”

Instead of answering, she kissed him. The kids were gone. They had no responsibilities. It was finally her chance to move past quiet hidden kisses and into new and exciting territory. He started to kiss her more fervently, clearly on the same page. 

In a moment of bravery, she flipped herself over on top of him. His lips fell to a lazy smile as she pulled his black tee up and over his head. He pulled her close and kissed her neck before going to do the same with her tank top.

Once it was off, she looked down at him and saw him staring at her like she was some kind of magic. Like he never expected this to happen, even though it had only been on the table for a week and a half. 

“I’m pretty sure I’m the luckiest guy on the planet.” He murmured.

“You’re probably right about that.” She whispered, running her hand down his chest. He shivered at her touch and suddenly he was flipping her over so that she was underneath him. His hands rested on either side of her as he looked down into her eyes. There was a question there. He wanted to make sure that she was sure about this, she realized. As if it meant something more than just sex. 

And she realized that it did. This wasn’t some drunken fumble in the dark with a guy that she never wanted to talk to again. This was someone she actually cared about. That meant that it had more weight for them to take this step. But she didn’t need to even consider it. 

So she pulled his face down to hers and kissed him long and deep. “I’m pretty lucky too.” She whispered, not taking her lips off of his. When he kissed her again, she felt that smirk of his giving way to a smile.

As she felt her stomach doing flips, she couldn't help but wonder if she'd actually felt this way about him the entire time. Maybe she'd never truly hated Jughead Jones after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're nearing the end my friends... Thank you for being patient with my posts slowing down. I hope you're ready for what comes next...
> 
> xx Allison


	16. When the Bracelet Falls Off

Betty crawled into the tent with her friends around 3 AM. They were still awake and they knew where she had been, but they didn’t say anything about it, or ask for more information. They weren’t in high school anymore. Veronica just smiled at Betty and gave her a knowing look, and Cheryl let out a short laugh, and then they continued the conversation that they’d been having about Sharknado.

When Betty woke up the next morning, the sun was shining through the small screen at the top of the tent. She rolled over to see that Cheryl and Toni were gone and Veronica was still sleeping. Her phone said that it was 9:32 AM. She wondered if Jughead was awake yet and debated going to check or going to find her friends. In the end, she laid there with her eyes closed for another 10 minutes before pulling a yellow t shirt over her head and some dark wash shorts. She smiled to herself as she ran her hand through her messy hair and reached for the zipper of the tent.

“So it was all about winning?” She suddenly heard Archies voice from outside the tent and froze.

“They’ve known each other forever, did you realize that?” She recognized Sweet Pea’s voice. It had a tint of annoyance in it as he continued. “Like Jughead has been arguing with Betty since they were 5 or something and he’s just terrible at letting shit go. And it was clearly distracting to her to have him in her space like this.”

_Since we were eight._ Betty thought. _But wait. All about winning?_

“So he did all of this because of their history?” Archies voice was back. Betty felt her heart starting to constrict in her chest. “Something that happened like 15 years ago?”

“I mean, you should have seen him. He couldn’t stand watching her win one last time. Like his whole sad little plan was back firing right before his eyes.” Sweet Pea continued. “All up in his chest about it, like it was the end of some long drawn out movie that no one else wanted to watch. Anyway, it’s done with now. I talked to him about it this morning. Sounds like it’s pretty much settled.”

_His whole sad little plan._ What sad little plan? _It was all about winning. Clearly distracting to her._ The realization hit Betty like a ton of bricks. Of course. He hadn’t called a truce so that they could actually be friends. He’d called a truce so that he could get on her good side. Make her not suspect a thing. Distract her and try to get one last final win over her in whatever way he possibly could. 

The moments that she’d come to play over and over for the last few weeks started thundering in her ears. She’d made friendship bracelets with him. But now it seemed that had been a part of some kind of plan to lull her into a sense of security. She thought about debating with him. The way he got so mopey after she beat him in mini golf the week before.

If what Sweet Pea had said was true, it sounded like this was all a big play at keep your friends close and enemies closer. Maybe it was silly to believe that they were never friends at all, but either way, it had started under false pretenses, so who knew what was true after all? All the ice creams and the playful banter. And last night…

Betty yanked the tent flap open and stalked out to see Archie and Sweet Pea standing with mouths open wide.

“Did you just hear-“ Sweet Pea muttered, but Betty looked past him to see Jughead standing near the edge of the mountain and walked straight past the shocked boys towards the person her anger was really directed towards. 

He turned around as she got close and that stupid smile came over his face. She wanted to slap it off him, and he must have been able to read that on her face, because it fell just as quickly as it had risen.

“Betty?” there was hesitation in his voice. 

She walked right up to him so that he had to look her dead in the eye. 

“So I just heard your little friend talking. Was this really all just some kind of sick plan?”

“Sick?” He was clearly nervous now. _Good._  Betty thought. _You should be._

“You heard me.”

“I don’t-“ his voice faltered and his eyes flicked behind her to where Sweet Pea must have still been standing. He hadn’t answered her question, but his actions had confirmed it. 

“You know something?” She barreled down the trajectory she had started without waiting for more of a response. “I thought that I had been wrong about you this entire time. That maybe we actually should have been friends or something.” Suddenly, she was fighting back tears. The look of concern on his face only pissed her off more. “How pathetic is that?”

Jughead took a step towards her, but she put up her hands and stepped further away.

“You don’t understand-“ he started, but she was boiling over with hurt and rage and cut him off with a bitter laugh. 

“It’s always just been one giant competition to you. Well I guess here you go. Chalk it up, point to Jughead Jones.” 

She looked at him, his eyes confused, as if he didn’t expect things to go this way. As if there was any other way they could go. She looked him in the eye, hearing her voice shake with a combination of anger and hurt. 

“You wanted to beat me? You wanted to get some stupid revenge for all the times I’ve kicked your ass? Congratulations. You did it.” Her voice got quiet as she felt the tears coming. “You win.”

Before he could have the satisfaction of seeing her cry, she turned and walked away as quickly as she could without breaking into a sprint. For a moment, he said nothing, but then he called her name out, like maybe he could get her to turn around. To somehow change her mind. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Veronica slip out of their tent and immediately beeline to her. She heard Cheryl’s voice snapping from where Jughead must have started to attempt to follow her. “Stop. Don’t you fucking dare.” 

Betty walked straight into the trees, knowing that her friends would be right behind her. 

* * * * *

“Men are trash.” Veronica announced half an hour later, sitting on a rock over looking the view from the mountain top.

“This isn’t new information.” Cheryl replied, but her voice was still full of irritation.

“What now?” Betty asked quietly. 

“Now.” Cheryl stood up, moving back into her position as fearless leader. “We drink.” 

“Excuse me?” Veronica looked at her like she was insane. “We’re on top of a mountain. Where do you suggest we drink? The only place we can get alcohol is back at the scene of crime. If any of us go back there, one of the guys will get in our way and we won’t be able to get back here without them knowing where we are.”

“Oh Veronica.” Cheryl smiled wickedly. “You forget that we have a man on the inside.” 

“Kevin.” Betty realized.

Cheryl flipped her hair over her shoulder. “I already texted him five minutes ago.”

“It’s only 10 AM.” Betty pointed out. 

“That’s why I also had him steal the muffins from the box by the fire pit.” Cheryl said, clearly proud of herself.

Just then, Kevin stepped through the trees. Sure enough, he had the entire box of muffins in his left hand, and a six pack in the right. 

“You don’t have to say it. I know I’m a hero.” He presented the box like it was a crown.

Cheryl shoved him and grabbed the box from his grasp. 

“A good muffin is all a girl really needs.” Veronica said, reaching into the box and coming up with a blueberry muffin in hand. 

“We don’t actually have to drink." Cheryl acquiesced. "This is your pity party, it’s up to you how you want to spend it.”

It only took a few seconds for Betty to make her decision. “Let’s go for a walk.”

* * * * *

The trails that led through the woods took them past towering trees and fallen tree trunks. They’d never really gone this direction before, not that they knew exactly where they were going. The path winded them through the bushes and farther down the mountain until they came to a spot that made Betty gasp.

In front of them was a waterfall of sorts, maybe twice their height, a small but deep lake beneath it. 

“How have we never been here?” Veronica asked no one in particular.

“The universe is giving off strong vibes right now.” Cheryl stepped forward towards the water, shaking her head.

“What kind of vibes?” Betty exchanged a skeptical glance with Veronica. 

Cheryl turned back to look at them, the waterfall now her backdrop. “There’s a reason we didn’t find this until today. And we need to make the most of it.” 

“What does that even mean?” Kevin laughed.

Cheryl looked at them all like they were completely out of touch with the world. “It means we’re going in.”

Betty answered first. “I don’t have a-“

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence. How long have you known me?” Cheryl demanded.

“Almost as long as we’ve known ourselves.” Veronica sighed, glancing at Betty again as she said it.

“Right.” Cheryl nodded. “So why do you even protest anymore?”

She gave the group a wicked grin and pulled her shirt over her head. Toni followed suit and suddenly the both of them were in their underwear, looking at the others expectantly. 

“Look.” Cheryl directed her attention to Betty. “Do what you want. But you’ll just be denying the universe. Besides, nothing heals a broken heart like a little adventure.”

Betty looked to Veronica as Kevin lifted his own shirt over his head and followed Cheryl and Toni as they ran to the top of the waterfall. Her best friend stared back at her with that mischievous look in her eye that Betty had never been able to fight. But at the moment, she didn’t want to fight it at all. So she pulled her own shirt over her head and ran up next to Cheryl.

This was what summer was really about. Freedom and adventure. Betty had never been the most spontaneous, maybe changing that was the one thing Jughead had been right about. 

_Do you ever do anything different?_ His voice echoed in the back of her head. 

_Watch me._ She pushed it out of her mind. This wasn’t about him. This was about her and the only people who she had ever really needed.

With Cheryl on one side and Veronica on the other, Betty took her friends hands in hers and jumped.

* * * * *

Two hours later, they sat on the edge of the lake.

“Did you know that if you get lost and can’t find water, you can drink your own pee twice before it becomes toxic and you die?” Kevin said absentmindedly.

“I hate you.” Cheryl responded.

As Betty took in the feeling of the pockets of sun between the branches hitting her skin, she looked around at her friends. Toni and Cheryl, holding hands as they sat in the dirt. Kevin with severe bed head and Veronica who, even in her rush this morning, had ended up looking completely put together, now completely wet, laughing as Cheryl poked her finger into one of Toni’s space buns. Betty knew she was on an adventure high, but even hours after having it broken, her heart felt so full. So maybe she’d had a summer fling and it had ended badly, but the real love story was probably her friends all along. She giggled at this thought. How cheesy. 

“What are you giggling at?” Veronica turned to Betty with a smile.

“Nothing.” Betty shrugged. But her goofy grin gave her away.

“So you’re feeling better right now?” Kevin prompted. Betty nodded at him. She was.

“Good.” Cheryl gave her a short nod. “Then it’s time for you to turn your ass around, go back to that campsite and talk to that stupid boy.”

Betty’s smile faltered. “Wait, what?”

“Did you give him a chance to explain himself?” Cheryl asked, but she already knew the answer to this.

“No, but he didn’t deny it.” 

“I gotta say, B, it didn’t seem like you gave him a chance to say much of anything.” Veronica pointed out cautiously. 

“Are you siding with him right now?” Betty felt defensive all of a sudden. This was a surprising turn of events for her.

“I’m siding with you.” Veronica answered easily. “The you who deserves to see this through and have all the information before you walk away from whatever it was that happened this summer.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me this right after it happened?” Betty looked from Cheryl to Veronica in shock.

“At the time my judgement was clouded by anger for you.” Cheryl admitted. “But the more I think about it, the more it doesn’t add up.” 

“If he was trying to beat you so hard, then why didn’t the boys win yesterday?” Veronica continued. “And why was he perfectly content in their loss?”

“How should I know?” Betty was suddenly confused again. “It doesn’t matter where we are now, two weeks ago he was carrying out some master plan.”

“Betty Cooper. I love you, but you are fucking blind.” Cheryl announced bluntly, as if it was a perfectly normal thing for someone to say to their heartbroken best friend.

“Excuse me?” 

“That boy is full heart eyes for you.” Cheryl looked away from Betty and exchanged a pointed look with Veronica.

“Maybe now, but-“

Veronica cut her off. “Do you remember when we went and saw Tangled for the first time?”

“Yes, but I don’t see what that has to do with anything.” She felt her argument weakening by the second. 

Veronica sighed. “We said we wanted a guy who looks at us the way that Flynn Rider looks at Rapunzel during the boat scene. Where she’s not even paying attention, but he’s staring at her like she’s the best thing on the planet?”

Betty nodded.

Veronica continued softly.

“Jughead looks at you like that every second of every day. And before you fight me on this, he’s been doing it since the third day of camp. So if he had some master plan, it was over before it even began.”

Betty watched as all of her friends nodded in agreement.

"Wait a minute. Since the third day of camp? You've been sitting on this that entire time? I didn't even start think of him that way until a week in."

"You needed to figure that out for yourself." Toni offered.

"And besides." Cheryl put on her most grandiose voice. "The course of true love never did run smooth. I hate to say it but you need to talk to him.”

Betty nodded slowly. These were the people that she trusted with her life. They’d never led her astray. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that they were right. She had started to really like Jughead, more than she’d ever liked a guy before. If nothing else, she owed herself the chance to get an explanation from him.

“But Betty?” Veronica added as Betty delicately stood up. “Just now, you were laughing and you weren’t thinking about him at all. You were fine. You’ll be fine whatever happens next. You don’t need him, but it’s okay that you still want him.”

Turning back towards the campsite, Betty admitted to herself that she did. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost done!! AH!  
> Hope you liked where this chapter turned.
> 
> xx Allison


	17. Maybe If You're Lucky

Betty was walking with determination back to the campsite when she came across the river. It passed by at the bottom of the incline and she glanced over before she started upwards. But something made her do a double take. A boy sat along the river. His back was to her, but she knew exactly who it was. The crown beanie gave him away.

_This is it._ Betty tried to keep her emotions under control as she walked over. She didn’t know what to say yet and every step brought her closer to having to decide. A few feet away, she stepped on a small stick and it broke in two. Before she felt ready for whatever was to come, Jughead turned around to see where the noise had come from.

When he saw her, his eyes widened in surprise and his mouth opened and then closed, like he was about to speak before realizing that he didn’t know what to say.

But suddenly, Betty did.

“Topic: Should I forgive you for whatever it is you’ve been hiding from me?”

He shook his head yes cautiously.

“For.”

She gave him a short nod back.

“Against.”

“State your point.”

He stayed seated on the rock he’d been perched on when she arrived, waiting for her to speak. So she did.

“I heard Sweet Pea talking outside the tent this morning. He said this was all some big competition. That you had some plan. It sounded like you were trying to win one last time to get back at me for all the times I’ve beat you over the years.” Now that she was saying it out loud for the second time, she was starting to hear the flaws in the story, but she barreled onward. 

“We have a long history and it’s never been good until two weeks ago when you showed up at camp. The camp I’ve gone to my whole life, which you must have known. I get the feeling you had a deeper reason to be here and it sounds like it had to do with me.”

He waited a few seconds, presumably to make sure she was done, before he spoke. “Point taken. My turn?”

She nodded and crossed her arms over her chest.

“State your point.”

He stood up from the rock and let his head fall back, taking in a long breath while looking up at the sky, like maybe he wanted some deus ex machina to save him from whatever he was about to say next. He kept his head like that when he spoke.

“My bracelet fell off.”

This was not what she had been expecting him to say. “Excuse me?”

He let his head fall back and looked at her. She could see it in his eyes that he was afraid of something. She couldn’t figure out what. 

“My bracelet fell off. The one I made a wish on on the first day of camp.”

Jughead paused and cleared his throat.

“Do you remember the second grade science fair?”

As if she could ever forget.

He continued on without waiting for an answer.

“You had this rainforest Microsystem. You’d been working on it for weeks, I saw you making sketches of it in class, brainstorming which little plastic animals you were going to put in it. On the day of the science fair, you walked away to fill up your water bottle right before the judges came over. No one was watching your project.”

Betty involuntarily let out a short, bitter laugh. “So you came over and ruined it. Of course I remember that, it was the first dick move in a long line of them.”

Even though she had just insulted him, he kept talking. She recognized the expression on his face, like whatever it was he was saying, he just had to keep going until it was all out.

“No one was watching your project except for me. And this kid from our class went over to it and I saw him doing something. Fiddling with the back part of it. So I went over and I told him to stop. He ran away and you were coming back. You looked up and saw me standing there and I got nervous and walked away. But I was too late telling the other kid not to touch it. He’d already messed it up and… well you know what happened next.”

Of course she did. She had assumed it was him.

“You came up to me afterwards and accused me of ruining your project. I thought about all the times I’d seen you working on it. All those drawings you’d made that I thought were so cool and how you always raised your hand in social studies with answers most of our class hadn’t learned yet. You’d never talked to me. But I wanted you to. So I said I did it.”

Betty felt nerves vibrating in her chest.

“What does this have to do with anything?”

Jughead smiled, a sort of sad half smile. 

“The day we graduated from fifth grade, you and Cheryl and Veronica came up to me. I had tried to pull myself together and look as nice as possible. At the time fifth grade graduation felt like a huge deal. But my hair was wild and I couldn’t tame it. I still can’t. Cheryl told me my hair looked like a birds nest and I looked over at you and you laughed. And my little 11 year old mind freaked out so I made my dad take me to the store and I bought my first beanie. I couldn’t stand the thought of you thinking I looked like a mess.”

Betty didn’t understand. He was jumping all over the timeline of their lives, and she didn’t see what it had to do with what was happening now. But there was a thought pulling at the back of her mind that she wasn’t willing to acknowledge just yet. 

Jughead tentatively stepped closer to her. “If Sweet Pea was talking about some plan, it was a plan to make you finally see me as more than some stupid boy who was always fighting with you. Yeah, I was upset that you beat me- at mini golf, when it felt like I was going to lose my chance because you said the war was finally over and fighting with you was the only way I ever had known how to talk to you. When I made a wish on day one of camp, I wished that you and I could finally be friends. That maybe we could be more. That maybe you’d finally realize that I never hated you at all.”

He took another step, and her feet felt rooted deep into the ground where she stood as she waited for him to finish his thought.

“Betts.” He said it softly. “I’ve loved you since the second grade science fair.”

For a second, she saw him searching her eyes for a clue as to how she was taking this news. She was trying to figure this out herself when he spoke again.

“At least I thought I loved you.”

_So much for that._  Her heart felt like it plummeted in her chest. Before she could unpack what that feeling meant, he opened his mouth again.

“Because you were pretty and smart and chose the same animals I would’ve chosen for your rainforest project. I used to have this idea of you in my mind. But I didn’t even know you. You’re beautiful and smart but you’re also funny and stubborn and caring and a capture the flag legend who eats her marshmallows all wrong and knows the layout of Pops by heart. And now I understand that I had no idea what love was until I got to know you. Until the real you turned out to be a million times better than any idea could ever be.”

Her mind started backtracking, trying to absorb everything that he’d just said. He loved her? And when she thought he was taking that back, she’d felt disappointed because… she wanted it to be true. Which meant…

He was still talking, showing no sign of stopping. Betty could hear panic trickling into his voice.

“And I’m sorry, because that’s probably super creepy and you probably want to turn and run now because obviously I have been lying to you, just not about what you thought and I understand if you don’t want to talk to me anymore-“

Before he could say another word, Betty stepped forward to fill the gap between them and in a split second, she was kissing him. It took him only a moment to register what was happening, but then he leaned into her. She pulled back and looked up at him, seeing a mix of shock and content on his face.

“Thank you for the debate.” She announced. “You were a worthy opponent. The evidence you brought to the table really swayed my vote. You win.”

His face broke into a smile greater than any of the ones she’d seen so far. But it was the smile in his eyes that made her heart flutter.

“I was right about one thing though.” She made a face that she imagined mimicked one of his smirks. 

He raised his eyebrows. “And what is that?”

She reached up to touch a piece of stray hair peeking out from under his beanie. A beanie he’d apparently put on for her.

“You tie the bracelet on your wrist and you make a wish.” She let her hand fall to his cheek. “And when the bracelet falls off, your wish comes true.”

“If you’re lucky.” He smiled, leaning into her hand contentedly.

Her hand suddenly darted back up to grab the beanie from his head. She stepped back quickly, leaving him standing in shock. “So I’m right.”

He tried to run his hands through his hair to tame it, and shook his head no as he stepped towards her. But his smile only got bigger. “Give me my hat.”

“Admit that I’m right.” She shook the hat in front of her, just out of his reach.

He stepped forward and she stepped backwards. She could feel a tree coming up behind her and she knew it would stop her in her tracks soon if she didn’t find a way around it.

He stepped forward again, the look in his eye telling her that he was thinking the same thing.

“I’d argue that it had nothing to do with the bracelet and everything to do with my charm and kissing skills.”

“If that’s all you were banking on, it’s a good thing you had the magic from the bracelet to help you.”

His jaw dropped. “That is the last straw.” He jumped forward and grabbed her in his arms as she let out a yelp. She laughed and poked him in the left side of his chest.

“Did I break your little heart?”

He twirled a piece of her hair in his hand and looked her straight in the eye when he answered.

“Nah. I’m pretty sure you made it whole.”

She leaned into his chest, and his arms held her tight. She could hear his heart beating and thought yet again how she’d never have been able to predict that this is where they'd end up. But then again, maybe she should have known all along. She wrapped her arms around Jughead and whispered into his shirt. “I never hated you either.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter was everything that you hoped it would be after the slow burn I gave you! Let me know if it was worth it!
> 
> xx Allison


	18. Your Wish Will Come True

**Two Years Later**

Betty stood in the doorway to the cabin, the wind blowing through her hair and the sun spreading warmth across her arm. The leaves on the trees ruffled in the wind and she breathed in the forest air the same way she had so many times before. She closed her eyes and smiled, wishing she could stay in this moment forever. A perfect day for a wedding and a perfect place.

Less than a week ago, she had been packing up the boxes from her studio apartment, face timing Veronica as she placed her key on the kitchen counter, knowing a whole new chapter of her life was about to begin. Now she stood here, where it seemed like everything special in her life had started.

“You ready for this?” She heard Veronicas voice from behind her now, inside the cabin that was being used as a dressing room. Betty turned to see her in her green bridesmaid dress, her hair half up in a braided crown. 

“I’m not the one you need to ask.” Betty glanced down at her matching bridesmaid dress and past Veronica to Cheryl, who was looking equal parts radiant and nervous in her wedding dress.

It had been a year to the day since Toni had proposed. Betty smiled, remembering how Cheryl had face timed her immediately after, screaming out the entire story while Betty sat in a coffee shop and people around her stared.

She walked over to her friend and gently put her hand on her shoulder.

“Hey.” She said the word softly, and looked at Cheryl through the mirror in front of them. “Don’t get scared now. Theres a beautiful girl in a cabin just like this who’s brimming with excitement to marry you.”

Cheryl let out a sigh of pure irritation. “You don’t know how she’s feeling. You’ve been here with me the whole time.”

“You’re right.” Betty squeezed her hand. “I’ll do some recon.”

She exited the cabin and made a stop at the parking lot where the guests were arriving. She nodded to Archie, who was in charge of directing them to the lake for the ceremony. “25 minutes.” She mouthed and he saluted her.

She walked the minute or so to the other cabin and stepped in to see Toni and Sweet Pea playing some kind of card game. As expected, Toni was much more relaxed than Cheryl. She didn’t care about how the wedding went, and she wasn’t nervous that Cheryl would leave her standing up there. She was content in the fact that in less than half an hour she’d be married to the love of her life, so she felt no need to spend the rest of that time worrying.

“Hey there.” Toni looked up and smiled at Betty when she walked in.

“Hey. You look absolutely gorgeous.” 

Toni nodded her thanks, knowing full well why Betty was dropping in on her.

“She’s freaking out isn’t she?”

“Total panic mode.” Betty acquiesced.

Toni moved to stand up. “Should I just go talk to her?”

Betty waved her off.

“I think she would spontaneously combust if you saw her in her dress before you two walked the aisle.”

“You’re probably right.” The look on Toni’s face just thinking about Cheryl made Betty’s heart warm.

“Can I help you with anything?”

Toni shrugged and looked at Sweet Pea, who mimicked the gesture. She turned back to Betty and responded with a quick “nah” before checking her hand of cards.

Betty nodded and turned to go, and Toni called out after her “He’s at Pop’s.”

_Of course he was._ Only a two minute walk from here to the place where they’d spent every day two summers ago.

She started the walk to get him, thinking how far they’d all come since then.

Obviously, Cheryl and Toni were getting married. No one was surprised when they found out, but everyone was excited. When Cheryl announced that they’d picked Camp Clearwater as their venue, Betty had felt a rush of nostalgia in her chest and immediately knew that it was perfect. The lake provided amazing views and Toni had proposed in the exact spot they were about to exchange vows. 

Betty made one more stop before Pop’s. The dining hall, where arrangements were being finished up for the reception. It wouldn’t be taking place inside, rather outside on the dance floor that had been brought in to circle the fire pit. 

Betty entered to see 6 familiar faces finishing up with the caterers. 

“You guys ready?” Betty smiled.

Her campers had grown over the last two years. Zoey was the tallest, and of course sported the highest heels to make it even more obvious. Sam had put a streak of blue green in her hair and every time Betty saw her, she thought she looked like a mermaid. They had all come back this summer as junior counselors and Betty couldn’t be more happy.

“The real question is, is Cheryl ready?” Sam said now, a mischievous look in her eyes.

“I think she’s been ready for a long time.” Janiya said dreamily.

“That is the single cheesiest thing I’ve ever heard anyone say.” Zoey rolled her eyes, but it was obvious that she agreed. 

“The fact is, you liked watching their romance play out just as much as the rest of us.” Janiya countered.

“My personal favorite was Betty and Jughead.” Olivia said suddenly. Betty did a quick double take at the comment.

“Wait. You knew?”

“Pretty sure we knew before you knew.” Sam said this proudly with a smug look on her face.

“Excuse me?”

Marisa put down the napkins that she’d been stacking and let out a long sigh. “Why do you think we put you guys on the same team for capture the flag?”

Betty couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Sam rolled her eyes. “Adults need nudging sometimes, but it’s up to you to actually figure this stuff out for yourselves. We can’t do all the heavy lifting. Besides, it was all Claudia’s idea and it wasn’t my place to steal her thunder.”

This shocked Betty even more. She looked over at the quiet girl who’d barely said two words that entire summer. Betty couldn’t imagine her as a mastermind.

Claudia just shrugged. “What can I say? When you keep quiet and pay attention, you notice a lot.”

As Betty left the girls with the news that the wedding would be starting in 18 minutes, she shook her head in disbelief. All that time, and they’d never said a word. The only romance they hadn’t witnessed at this point was the one that came one summer later. 

Veronica had left the following August to take the job in New Orleans. Cheryl and Betty had helped her move into her new apartment before flying back to New York and they’d all cried and promised to face time at least once a week and make plans to visit each other as often as humanly possible. 

They’d already done so 3 times. Betty and Cheryl went to New Orleans for Thanksgiving and they’d had a quiet dinner in Veronica’s apartment. Veronica had come back to the city for a week over New Years and they’d camped out in Times Square all day to get to see the ball drop. And in April, they’d all made a trip to California for a week,  sat on the beach, and drank their weight in margaritas. 

Veronica was doing well out on her own, but one person from their friend group had ended up not far from her. Archie Andrews had taken a job as a football coach at a high school in Chalmette, less than half an hour from where Veronica lived. Being the only other person they each knew, they ended up hanging out a lot more, and it hadn’t taken long before Veronica was telling Betty all about the different dates their shared first kiss was taking her on.

Betty walked up to Pop’s to find Jughead sitting in their old spot, with not one but two cones in his hand.

When he saw her, his face broke into a goofy grin. His hair was somewhat tamed on his head. In an ironic twist, Cheryl had vetoed the beanie for the ceremony, and besides, he was wearing it less and less lately. 

“I was hoping you’d find me.” He said. “Otherwise I would have had to eat both cones all by myself.”

Betty took a seat beside him and wiped a bit of melted ice cream off the side of his face before drawing her attention to the ice cream cone that he had given her.

“It’s a new flavor.” He told her. “Marshmallow chunk.”

“Interesting.” She took a lick of the ice cream, careful to not get it on her dress.

“Would be better if the marshmallows were burnt.” Jughead remarked.

“I thought we had agreed to disagree on that one.”

Jughead nodded, but he clearly wasn’t ready to let it go just yet. “I just think you need to take into consideration the overall metaphor of the burnt marshmallow.”

Betty raised her eyebrows. “Go on.”

“Two years later and our writer still hasn’t figured out the allegorical meaning behind my musings.” Her boyfriend shook his head at her, feigning disappointment. “Our relationship. The best challenge you ever took on. Trying something a little bit messy and having it turn out a little bit better than you thought it would be.”

Betty bumped his arm playfully. “Actually, it turned out a lot better than I thought it would be. I thought you would have completely tanked this by now.”

Jughead tried to maintain a look of hurt, but she could see him holding back a smile.

“Oh really?”

Betty had moved her boxes from her studio apartment into a new one bedroom. There were two names on the lease. Betty Cooper and Jughead Jones. Their real world was somewhere in between what they’d thought it would be and what they’d wanted it to be. 

Betty had gone into panic mode after graduating from college. She was jobless for two months, then found a position as a copy editor for a news site. This meant that she wasn’t yet the one doing the reporting, but as Jughead liked to say, it was only a matter of time. He was working on the sets of short films here and there, sometimes making his own work with some of his friends from school.

Seeing him enjoying himself, attending the premiere of a short that he had directed, sitting in sometimes on set while he worked, Betty had started having ideas in her head for stories that needed to be told. Surprisingly, she’d realized, those stories didn’t always have to be non fiction. One night he’d caught her writing up a script and insisted that she let him read it. They were starting filming for it next week.

Betty looked over at Pop’s, where it’s namesake was locking up to head to the ceremony. She tried to finish her cone up quickly so that they could do the same.

The day that Betty had moved her boxes, the two of them went out to a Chinese place in their new neighborhood to celebrate. On the walk back, they’d found a beagle puppy on the side of the road, no tags, seemingly hungry. His tail wagged a mile a minute when Betty reached down to pet him, and when Jughead bent down, the dog leapt into his arms and licked his entire face. They’d looked at each other and known immediately that he was theirs. Betty had asked if his name was going to be Hot Dog, but Jughead said he wanted a name that they’d picked out together. Pop was staying with Sweet Pea’s roommate for the weekend.

Finishing her cone and looking over at the boy who she’d known all her life, but only really truly started to know since the first time they had ice cream together, Betty felt like her real world was ten times better than anything she had hoped it would be.

As they walked back to the wedding festivities, Betty looked up to the sky. There were new beginnings all around her, but so many of them were continuations of the same core stories. “Jug, did you know that the girls knew about us this whole time? Even before it actually became a thing?”

“It was always a thing, Betts.” He answered. “You just didn’t know it yet.”

Even then, there were a lot of things that Betty didn't know. She didn’t know that a year from that day, she’d be promoted to reporter. She didn’t know that in that moment, walking back to the cabins, Jughead had a ring in his pocket that he’d carry with him for another four months before she saw it. But it didn’t matter. All that mattered was her hand in his as they walked into the future together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who has read this through to the end.
> 
> I've loved this story and I'm so happy that you enjoyed it :)
> 
> more fluff will be coming your way soon ;)
> 
> xx Allison


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